On the evening of November 8, 2022, a photo exhibition on China’s first decade of the new era and also the Chinese Cultural Festival: Cuisine and Movies was inaugurated at the National Library of Kuwait (NLK). Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jianwei, Secretary-General of National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) Issa Al-Ansari, Director-General of NLK Sheikha Rasha Nayef Al-Sabah, as well as over 600 guests including diplomatic envoys of other countries in Kuwait, Kuwaiti friends from various sectors, representatives of Chinese institutions in Kuwait and the local Chinese community, attended the opening ceremony.

During his speech at the opening ceremony, Ambassador Zhang briefed guests on the photo exhibition, Chinese cuisine, movies and cultural performance prepared for the festival. He stressed that the diversity of Chinese culture is the result of China’s commitment to respecting and carrying forward the fine traditional culture throughout its 5000-year history. The photo exhibition on the past decade presented guests the historic changes China has undergone in the new era, as evidenced by those smiling faces that tell tales of happiness in China. The 20th CPC National Congress successfully concluded a couple of weeks ago sounded the clarion call for China’s new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal of building the world’s most populous and biggest developing nation into a great modern socialist country in all respects. At the Congress, President Xi Jinping was re-elected General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and will continue to take the helm of the great vessel of China. On the journey ahead, the CPC will rally the 1.4 billion Chinese people and lead them in advancing national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization.

Ambassador Zhang pointed out that Chinese modernization contains elements that are common to the modernization processes of all countries, but it is more characterized by features that are unique to the Chinese context, adding that it is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. President Xi Jinping was quoted as saying that “The Chinese people have always believed that the world is a commonwealth. We Chinese not only aspire for good living for ourselves, but also hope people in other parts of the world lead a decent life.” Chinese modernization offers humanity a new choice for achieving modernization. China stands ready to work with the rest of the world to promote the humanity’s shared values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom and build a community with a shared future for mankind, thus making new greater contributions to the noble cause of peace and development for humanity, he reaffirmed.

Secretary-General of NCCAL Issa, Director-General of NLK Sheikha Rasha and other guests expressed gratitude to the Chinese Embassy in Kuwait for providing such a good opportunity for local people to have a unique cultural experience at the festival. Issa said this event demonstrates the Chinese presence as a multicultural and multinational country with major influence in the international arena, and its geographical and population numbers present to the world a diverse civilized model that all the people of the East can be proud of. He believed that this terrific cultural event will enable the people of Kuwait to gain a firsthand understanding of China’s time-honored history and splendid civilization. China is a peace-loving nation and a good partner of many countries across the world. Kuwait and China have maintained close cooperation in many fields. NCCAL and NLK will enhance cooperation with the Chinese Embassy in Kuwait and play a positive role in promoting people-to-people exchanges between the two sides, they said.

The event was filled with a variety of Chinese elements, like the magnificent Chinese-style archway and auspicious red lanterns. Guests were attracted by photos on display that tell tales of China’s extraordinary journey in the first decade of the new era. The photo exhibition gave them a glimpse of the secrets of China’s remarkable development over the years. They also showed strong interest in trying on Hanfu and in artistic performance given on the spot, such as Chinese tea art, calligraphy, Chinese Zither, Kungfu, and Taijiquan, taking photos joyously to capture the wonderful moment. Chinese books, panda-shaped ornaments and other souvenir with Chinese features were also quite popular, while local specialty food in China, such as dumplings, fried dough twist, candied hawthorn and spicy chicken, were a real feast for the guests. Moreover, many of them said they were touched and impressed by the Wandering Earth, a Chinese science-fiction blockbuster played on the festival that tells a story of the concerted efforts of humanity to save our shared planet. The four-hour event pulsed with happiness and excitement.

Guests present at the festival spoke highly of the significance of the cultural event as a good opportunity for them to learn about the historical changes that had taken place in China. They were impressed by many stories behind the photos on display and by the kindness and hospitality of Chinese people, while appreciating the Chinese culture at the event. As the cultural festival gave them a better knowledge of China, they looked forward to more cultural activities of this kind in Kuwait, and hoped for travels to China in the future to gain a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of the major country.

The three-day photo exhibition and Chinese cultural festival was hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Kuwait with strong support from Chinese institutions, enterprises and associations in Kuwait, the local Chinese community and NLK. The event was covered by Kuwait’s mainstream media outlets including Kuwait TV, Kuwait News Agency, and Al-Anba.