On July 24, the opening ceremony of the 2023 Colorful Guizhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Traditional Craft Workshop took place at the Mianxue Hall of the Chinese Culture Academy in the East Campus. This event was jointly organized by GZU and Chinese Culture University (Taiwan). Key attendees included Wang Ziqi, President of Chinese Culture University, Li Weigui, Deputy Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the CPC Guizhou Committee, Ye Sen, Director of the Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Affairs Office of the Guizhou Provincial Department of Education, and Zhang Dalin, Executive Vice President of GZU. Zhou Shaoqi, Vice President of GZU, presided over the ceremony.

Zhang Dalin, speaking on behalf of GZU, warmly welcomed the teachers and students participating in the workshop. He highlighted the fruitful collaboration between the two universities since the initiation of this workshop in 2017. Faculty members from both institutions have maintained long-term communication and cooperation. Notably, dozens of GZU students have taken part in exchange programs at Chinese Culture University. Due to its impressive achievements and significant impact, the workshop has become a prominent exchange program with Taiwan, authorized by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. Zhang emphasized that young people from both sides share the same cultural roots and are imbued with the same essence of traditional Chinese culture. Over time, unique regional cultures and creative cultural industries have emerged on both sides, each with its strengths. He expressed his hope that this workshop would deepen the participants’ understanding of Guizhou’s brilliant intangible cultural heritage and serve as an inspiration for young people from both sides to connect with and promote the outstanding minority cultures.

Wang Ziqi pointed out that the workshop provides young people from Taiwan with the opportunity to explore the traditional crafts and culture of Guizhou’s ethnic minorities. He expressed confidence that students from both sides can enhance their mutual learning and communication through such opportunities, enriching themselves and collectively working towards preserving the unique traditional crafts within modern economic systems.

Ye Sen underscored Guizhou’s consistent commitment to educational exchanges with Taiwan. In recent years, Guizhou has embraced the idea of “Qian (Guizhou) and Taiwan as one family” and launched multi-level and comprehensive exchanges with Taiwan in higher education, vocational education, elementary education, and youth communication. He envisioned that that the participants could find ways to merge Guizhou’s ethnic crafts with Taiwan’s cultural and creative designs, and revitalize traditional crafts through the application of diverse and trendy creative concepts. By encouraging cultural creativity, the rich intangible cultural heritage of Guizhou will continue to thrive and remain relevant.

Li Weigui stressed that culture represents the soul of a nation, encapsulating its vitality, unity, and creativity. Over the years, GZU and Chinese Culture University have actively sought common ground in the realm of intangible cultural heritage. Their efforts have made significant contributions to bolstering educational exchanges, fostering friendship and facilitating mutual development across the strait. He expressed the hope that both sides will continue to seize opportunities and innovate methods for communication and cooperation. In this way, teachers and students from both sides of the strait can make even greater contributions to the preservation and revitalization of Chinese culture, the advancement of Chinese modernization, the promotion of peaceful development in cross-strait relations, and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The opening ceremony was attended by over 90 people, including representatives from Chinese Culture University (Taiwan), heads of relevant GZU departments, and teacher as well as student representatives of GZU.

Editor: Yin Zixi

Chief Editor: Li Xufeng

Senior Editor: Yang Nan

Translator: Jia Haibo