«Dialogue Between the Yangtze and the Volga»: Gnesin Students Perform at Event Promoting Cultural Tourism Between Russia and China
«Dialogue Between the Yangtze and the Volga: Welcoming Hubei» was an event aimed at building connections between Chinese and Russian tourism businesses, held at the Chinese Cultural Center in Moscow. The meeting was organized by the Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the China National Tourist Office in Moscow, and the Chinese Cultural Center.
The event brought together around 200 participants, including representatives from the Amur Region, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Samara and Ulyanovsk Regions, and the Moscow City Tourism Committee. Also attending were representatives of Russian tourism associations, the Russia–China Friendship Society, Chinese and Russian cultural and tourism businesses, airlines, and the media.
Guests were introduced to Hubei's culture and tourism through a photography exhibition, alongside a display of intangible traditional heritage from the Jingchu region, such as straw paintings, Wuhan paper-cutting, Wuhan dough sculpting, Qichun moxibustion, and a green brick tea ceremony.
Hubei Province is the origin of Chu culture and is also known as the «Province of a Thousand Lakes». Located in central China along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, it is home to five nationally designated historical and cultural cities, 15 national nature reserves, 89 nationally protected cultural heritage sites, 73 Chu cultural sites, and 138 tourism villages. The Wudang Mountains have held great natural and cultural significance for centuries and were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. The mountains are home to a world-famous complex of Taoist temples and monasteries dedicated to the deity Xuanwu. The Shennongjia Nature Reserve, near the Wudang Mountains, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016 and is considered one of the most scenic places in Hubei Province.
The business program concluded with the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between Russian and Chinese tourism businesses.
A concert featuring Chinese and Russian performers was the highlight of the event. Gnesin Russian Academy of Music students Anastasia Onopa (violin), Viktoria Lazareva (soprano), Grigorii Karpushev (baritone), and Konstantin Ryabin (bayan) performed the Russian folk song «Kalinka» and joined Chinese musicians for a performance of «Moscow Nights». These performances received a warm response from the audience, with the entire hall singing along.
The Gnesin students' participation was part of the cooperation between the Chinese Cultural Center and the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. A delegation from the Academy, led by First Vice-Rector Svyatoslav Golubenko, is scheduled to visit Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, in October. The purpose of the visit is to sign a cooperation agreement.