Yunnan to present its many-splendored life in the U.S.
Southwest China’s Yunnan province will stage a series of cultural exchanges titled "YUNNAN: A MANY-SPLENDORED LIFE——SHANGRI-LA IN FOCUS 2024" in the United States from September 23 to October 2. Shangri-La is a most beautiful place in northwest Yunnan, with the name borrowed from James Hilton’s novel The Lost Horizon.
A poster of the Yunnan cultural exchanges in the U.S.
Beginning in the Californian city of Los Angeles, the 10-day cultural activities aim to boost tourism cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, renewing the Sino-US friendship through cultural exchanges.
Yunnan province is where the Flying Tigers are historically bonded. From 1941 when US general Claire Lee Chennault was invited to Yunnan to form the American Volunteer Group (AVG) to the recent visit by the Flying Tigers veterans in November 2023, Yunnan has witnessed the friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and the US for more than 80 years.
Flying Tigers is an honorary title that the Chinese people granted to the AVG and other US military presence in China in the 1940s, who contributed a lot to China’s war effort against the Japanese fascists, as well as to the the Allies’ victory over WWII.
A delegation from the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation visit Kunming Foreign Language School in November 2023.
Chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation Greene, as well as Flying Tigers veterans Moyer and Mcmullen, visit the Flying Tigers Memorial Hall in Yunnan in November 2023.
Now quite a few Americans are enjoying a many-splendored life of Yunnan, and they represent the strong friendship between Chinese and American folks. Brian Linden, an American village head, took west Yunnan’s Dali as his home and devoted himself to the protection of Bai ancient buildings for 20 years.
At the same time, Dr. John Flower and his wife rebuilt a Yunnan ethnic house in West Virginia, allowing Americans to see the charm of Chinese folk houses. This folk dwelling, a mixture of architecture elements of Tibetan, Naxi, Bai and Han people, seems plain but in fact, extraordinary.
As for the cultural exchanges in the U.S., they are jointly hosted by the Information Office and the Foreign Affairs Office of the People's Government of Yunnan Province. With the theme of "Sharing Beautiful Life with the World", the activities will feature cultural-tourism promotions, art shows, face-to-face talks and food-tasting parties.
John Flower (front row, 1st from the left) and his students rebuid a Yunnan ethnic house in West Virginia.
Brian Linden talks about local culture in west Yunnan’s Dali to intenational tourists.
Source: Yunnan News App; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue