The 2024 Sino-Thai Cultural Tourism Carnival was held in Huangshan City of east China's Anhui Province, bringing diverse new rural tourism experiences to scores of residents and tourists.
The three-day festival runs from Friday to Sunday at the city's Dalingshan Tourism Resort, where ancient Huizhou architecture meets modern hospitality.
From melodious Thai music, to agile and powerful Thai boxing, to Huizhou straw dragon and fish lantern dances, more than 1,000 performers participated in what officials described as an ambitious cultural fusion experiment.
The evening performances were the festival's highlight, with Thai dancers sharing the stage with local performers wielding fish lanterns.
The fusion and collision of diverse cultural elements created a visual and auditory feast for the resort's visitors.
"The main purpose of organizing this Sino-Thai Cultural Tourism United as One Family event is to promote cultural exchanges between the two sides, allowing our traditional Huizhou culture to go out and the Thai culture to come in, and enrich tourism in the rural areas as well as the whole city," said Ji Liangli, Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Huangshan's Huizhou District.
The cultural event also features 65 interactive programs, carefully curated to showcase both Thai and Chinese cultural elements.
"This weekend's event is a wonderful bridge connecting the people of Thailand and the people of China together, particularly here in Anhui Province. It's a wonderful honor for us to be here to bring together the cultures from Thailand and from China," said Prina Apirat, Thai Consul-General in Shanghai.
Cultural carnival brings Thai flair to ancient Chinese city
Iran on Monday publicly rejected a core U.S. demand to cease all uranium enrichment, while projecting a dual-track strategy of guarded diplomatic engagement and reinforced military preparedness.
The moves came as the indirect Iran-US talks in Oman's Muscat last week yielded no breakthrough and regional tensions continued to simmer.
On Monday, Mohammad Eslami, president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that while Iran could consider diluting its 60-percent enriched uranium, it would only do so if all international sanctions were first lifted.
Eslami also dismissed past proposals to ship the material abroad for safekeeping.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi echoed this line on Monday, reaffirming Tehran's strategy of engaging in talks while refusing to concede on what Iran views as sovereign rights.
Pezeshkian and Araghchi have described the Muscat talks as a "good start" but warned that diplomacy must be based on "respect, not coercion."
In a televised speech on Monday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged Iranians to show unity and "disappoint the enemy" ahead of the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, amid rising tensions with the United States.
Meanwhile, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, is set to lead a delegation to visit mediator Oman on Tuesday.
Simultaneously, Iran has signaled a shift toward greater military opacity. Iran's state news agency IRNA said in a report on Sunday that the Defense Ministry has halted all public displays of new weaponry "for security reasons and to safeguard the principle of surprise," a move widely interpreted as preparing for potential conflict.
Positions from the United States and Israel have appeared equally firm. A report on Sunday by Israel's Channel 15 said the United States had privately messaged Iran, seeking Iran's "concessions" in the next round of talks, and expecting "serious and meaningful content."
On Monday, The Jerusalem Post, citing Israeli defense officials, reported that Israel has warned the U.S. it "will strike alone" if Iran crosses its "red lines" on ballistic missiles.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Sunday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb 11 in Washington, and will discuss the U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Netanyahu is expected to demand that the U.S. promote the transfer of Iran's enriched uranium out of the country and restrict Iran's ballistic missile capabilities.
Iran rejects zero enrichment, projects dual-track posture amid stalled talks with U.S.
