The First Stop of 2018 China — Belarus Tourist Year in Chongqing

Journalist Xiong Yi Journalist Tang Anbing

The year of 2018 is the China-Belarus Tourist Year， and Chongqing is the first stop for Belarus to promote their tourism in China. In order to promote the cooperation and exchange on tourism between two friendly cities of Chongqing Municipality and Minsk State of Belarus， Victor Silico， Deputy Governor of Minsk State， Belarus， and Lud Kirill Vljanicovic， Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus in China have led a delegation to Chongqing to hold the Chongqing-Belarus Tourism Promotion Fair on January 10 and 11， moreover， the Contemporary Photography Exhibition of “Belarus under the Lens” and the special performance of the “Kupalinka” Art Troupe have exposed the mountain city， Chongqing to rich Belarusian culture.

Chongqing Municipality and Minsk have signed a Memorandum of Tourism Cooperation

On January 10， Chongqing - Belarus Tourism Promotion Fair was held in Chongqing Foreign Affairs Building. Victor Silico， Deputy Governor of Minsk State， Belarus， and Lud Kirill Vljanicovic， Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus in China， Porter Noy， Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of Belarus， Liu Guiping， Vice Mayor of Chongqing， Li Qian， Deputy Secretary-general of the municipal government， and Wu Kangming， Director of the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the municipality have attended the meeting and witnessed that the Sport and Tourism Administration of Minsk State of Belarus and Chongqing Tourism Commission have signed the Memorandum of Tourism Cooperation. The meeting was presided over by Wang Wen， Deputy Director of the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the municipality.

The memorandum stipulates that both parties will support each other in organizing promotional activities such as tourism promotion and exhibitions and arranging experts from their own regions or the tourism industry to participate in the activity in the spirit of enhancing friendship and mutual benefit. The two parties will periodically exchange travel maps， travel guides， travel brochures and other tourism promotional materials， and deepen exchanges and cooperation in such areas as tourism data， air routes and airport relations； and both parties agree to encourage their respective travel agencies to organize tour groups on the basis of mutual benefits so as to increase the tourist amount in both two places and provide support for joint tourism promotion activities in the international market； the two parties will give full play to the role of the media to enhance information exchange and mutual access， and make full use of the media to promote tourism resources and products， publish the latest tourism industry information.

According to reports， Belarus enjoys a good industrial and agricultural foundation， strong scientific research strength and a beautiful natural environment， and thus is complementary with Chongqing in economic and social development. The China Railway Express （Chongqing） passing through the Belaru Station has been the powerful booster for two sides to deepen cooperation in economy， trade and culture. In recent years， Chongqing and Belarus have been conducting extensive cooperation in such areas as economy and trade， investment， transportation and logistics， science and education， culture and tourism. In the future， both parties will advance mutually beneficial cooperation in economy and trade， tourism and industry.

During their stay in Chongqing， the delegation also inspected enterprises and institutions related to business， tourism， culture， science and technology in Chongqing and discussed methods to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Photography， music and dance have fully displayed Belarusian culture and flavor

In the evening of January 10， “Kupalin” Art Troupe from Belarus has held a special performance at the Chongqing Guotai Art Center to present the wonderful Belarussian folk songs and dances to Chongqing citizens. Founded in 1966 by Soviet actor Gennady Ivanovich Zidovichi， the troupe has performed in all parts of the world and showed Belarusian national art， and thus enjoyed wide acclaim both in Belarus and abroad. Their creation has promoted the preservation， rejuvenation and popularization of Belarusian folk customs and evoke the Belarusian peoples love of their own national traditions.

At that night， the performance featured the carol of Belarus dedicated to the traditional winter solstice， which symbolized the blessing of the beginning of the new year. The extremely infectious performances of the actors has won the applause and interaction of the live audience. In the performance， the artists from the “Kupalinka” national art troupe used the traditional musical instruments of Belarus to bring “Good Night”， “Territory of the Motherland”， “Song of the Festival”， “Christmas Carol”， “Small Village”， “Midsummer Girl” and many other songs with local ethnic characteristics to the audience. Their play was sometimes rapid， sometimes relaxed， lively and full of light rhythm. Accompanied with the warm background music， the artists sang loudly. Under the stage， Chongqing citizens were also infected by their singing， and clapped their hands with rhythm. At that night， young teachers from the Chongqing Art School also worked with the Belarusian artists to jointly perform the Chinese famous song “Jasmine” and put the performance to a climax.

On January 11， 2018 Belarusian Festival of Arts and Cultures - Belarusian Contemporary Photography Exhibition “Belarus under the Lens” was opened in Chongqing Art Museum. What is Belarus？ What happened to Belarus in the last 30 years？ Photographic exhibitions have showed 13 photographers perception of the development process in different periods since the independence of the Republic of Belarus. And the audience can better understand Belarus and find its commonalities with China.

The exhibition is full of colorful works ranging from the daily life on the border of Belarus to the analysis of the architecture of the capital. Sergei Lesko has presented Belarusian culture through ancient civilizations and described the life style of witch doctors in Belarus. The work “Goodbye， Motherland” by Andre Lenkovic rethinks the past of Soviet Union. One of the core themes of the exhibition is the city， and works， such as the “City of the Sun” by Alejandro Krínov， “Window of the Tramcar” by Vadim Cachan， and the art stitching of “watching the city through the sleeping area” by Martha Swetokko have showed the rich and varied Belarusian culture.

Tr. by Li Hui