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    Langfang Culture Center: Geo-Cultural Connectivity along the Belt and Road

    Written by: Zoon Ahmed Khan
    Posted on: May 12, 2017 | | 中文

    Inside the Silk Road Museum

    ‘Dreams of Langfang’, a 20-billion-Yuan investment collaboration between the Ministry of Culture and Hebei Province, is a Cultural Industrial Park covering a total area of 3.4 million square meters. Under the Ovation Culture Group (OCG) launched in 2011, ‘Dreams of Langfang’ has been designed to assimilate, nurture and promote diverse cultural resources to provide people with a culturally and aesthetically rich experience in an ecologically friendly environment. This megaproject embraces a new dimension of the Silk Road vision that involves interaction among people, cultures and traditions. OCG’s outlook on “Modern Rendition of Traditional Classics” not only entails learning from ancient Chinese wisdom, but also expands this experience to the cultural diversity offered by all countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.

    Dining and art performance hall at Ovation Hotel - Lanfang Culture Center: Geo-Cultural Connectivity along the Belt and Road

    Dining and art performance hall at Ovation Hotel

    Lanfang Culture Center: Geo-Cultural Connectivity along the Belt and Road - Chinese medicine and herbal remedies

    Chinese medicine and herbal remedies

    The Ovation Hotel of the Cultural Industrial Park stands as a promising illustration of the untapped potential in this industry. The hotel’s mission is to provide complete immersion in ancient Chinese art, music and literature. This includes an escape into more natural environments to nurture the mind, body and soul. The cultural experience includes Confucius-style classrooms for meditation, calligraphy and flower decoration lessons, ancient Chinese herbal remedies, culinary ethics, and training in traditional meditation, martial arts and musical instruments.

    Chinese and foreign tourists are drawn to the unique experience offered by the Ovation Hotel – an escape from technological encroachment replaced by a calming ambience inspired by nature. At the same time, immersion into the traditional arts leaves a lasting impression on the visitors’ cultural knowledge and personal development. The entire experience can have a long-term impact on their daily routine to help lead a well-rounded and healthy lifestyle.

    Soul healing at Ovation Hotel - Lanfang Culture Center: Geo-Cultural Connectivity along the Belt and Road

    Soul healing at Ovation Hotel

    The Silk Road International Culture Center, another key project of the Langfang Cultural Industrial Park with a total investment of 3.43 billion Yuan, is being developed to serve as a meeting point for artists and young talent from all countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. This comprehensive cultural exchange center, which is set to inaugurate in May 2017, has a construction area of over 200,000 square meters, making it bigger than the distinguished Bird’s Nest (National Stadium) in Beijing. The Culture Center is postured to become the largest theater cluster with an audience capacity ranging from 360 for the small halls to 1,800 for the grand hall.

    In addition to state-of-the-art theater halls, the center includes 12,000 square meters of exhibition area. The exhibition center and theaters combined will stimulate the culture industry through collaborations with institutions, universities, youth organizations and governments. By holding exhibitions, trainings, auctions and funding of cultural ventures, the center’s mission is to revive and promote the cultural industries and eventually to provide more holistic cultural experiences, similar to those offered by the Ovation Hotel.

    Lanfang Culture Center: Geo-Cultural Connectivity along the Belt and Road - Gandhara art at the Silk Road Museum

    Gandhara art at the Silk Road Museum

    The museums in the cultural complex are rich in original artifacts collected from the historic Silk Route civilizations. These exhibits also include Gandhara and Indus Valley Civilization, as well as European relics. In this way, the Silk Route museums tell tales of the rich cultural connectivity that Eurasia has shared over centuries, and in doing so, build the groundwork for more proactive cultural cooperation as we enter the era of increased regional integration on multiple fronts.

    Langfang’s industrial park represents the celebration of diversity, traditional customs, and an opportunity to harness bonds between the people to whom the road and investment projects aim to reach. Therefore, as we approach the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing on 14th and 15th May 2017, it is fundamental to recognize the holistic nature of China’s Silk Road Initiative. The Belt and Road Initiative is not confined to political and economic ambitions: its vision expands to the shared heritage, societal linkages and aspirations of intercultural connectivity that can bring people of different cultures closer.

    Gandhara art at the Silk Road Museum - Lanfang Culture Center: Geo-Cultural Connectivity along the Belt and Road

    Gandhara art at the Silk Road Museum


    As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.

    Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.

    Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.

    YOULIN magazine is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan and is a window for Pakistani friends to learn about China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, YOULIN can listen more to the voices of readers in China and Pakistan, better play its role as a bridge to promote more effectively people-to-people bond.

    Last but not least, I would like to wish all the staff and readers of YOULIN a warm and prosper year in 2021.

    Nong Rong Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
    The People’s Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
    January 2021