Dubai: A Chinese cultural week held at the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation witnessed a colourful closing ceremony on Thursday evening with members of the artistic community and Chinese officials in attendance. The secretary-general of the foundation, Gulf News editor-in-chief Abdul Hamid Ahmad, was also present.
Feedback from the event had left little doubt that it had been a huge success, Chinese Consul-General Xu Kun said. "Our cultural agenda has attained a remarkable success in Dubai. Through this cultural performance, the people of Dubai can now understand the people of China better.
"Feedback [from attendees] was excellent... We notice the people here are very open and have a true thirst for knowledge and understanding others," he said.
Inquisitive
Asked if there was any message he would like to convey to the people of the UAE, he replied, "UAE and China maintain a very good relationship not only on political and commercial levels but cultural as well."
The cultural evening attracted an audience cutting across nationalities, ethnic backgrounds and age groups.
Tunis Makki Saeed, from Iraq, said: "I like to update my knowledge of other people's cultures so that I can understand them better. I visited China before and I was impressed with the level of development that the country has accomplished and I'm glad today to see Dubai play the cultural mediator's role."
Zhou Yunxiang, 25, a resident of Dubai, said: "I have been living and working in Dubai since 2008, today I'm happy that my country shares with the emirate its cultural agenda and that's crucial to exchange knowledge."
Snippets: Peking Opera group mesmerises audience
The China Peking Opera presented a number of shows including Stealing Rooster, adapted from the classical Chinese novel Outlaws of the marsh. The performance Goddess of heaven spreading flowers was inspired by Buddhist scriptures, while Brother of the tiger fighting hero was also originally from Outlaws of the marsh.
