The 2025 Taiwan Week kicked off in Nanjing City of east China's Jiangsu Province on Saturday, drawing over 1,000 participants from China's Taiwan region for a vibrant showcase of cultural exchange, business cooperation, and creative performances inspired by Tang Dynasty poetry.
The week-long event, running from April 20 to 22, features more than 20 activities, including business and cultural exchanges, cross-strait food bazaars, a Campus Folk Song Carnival, and an Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition.
The opening ceremony of the event began with a spectacular cross-strait collaborative performance designed around the poetry work of Li Bai, a legendary romantic poet of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The performance was jointly staged by Gui Shimin, inheritor of Jinling-Style Guqin and Lee Wei-chun, a renowned dance artist from Kaohsiung in Taiwan.
"With the melody of the ancient Guqin piece 'Moon Over the Mountain Pass' and Li Bai's poetry, combined with the rhythmic flow of my Tai Chi Zen-style dance, I believe that cross-Strait cultural and artistic exchanges can inspire more young people to embrace renewed hope for our country's magnificent landscapes,”Lee said.
The performance echoed the theme of the event "Nanjing and Taiwan: Together for the Future".
Over 1,000 participants from Taiwan are taking part in the event, including business representatives, grassroots groups and youth representatives. Among them is Hung Hsiu-chu, former chairperson of Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party.
"Taiwan and the Chinese mainland share the same bloodline, culture, and destiny as a community. The Jiangsu-Nanjing-Taiwan Week serves as a precious platform to promote understanding and cooperative exchanges," Hung said at the event.
During the opening ceremony, senior citizens from Juancun in Kaohsiung shared heartfelt stories of their search for relatives in Nanjing. Juancun, originally established to house soldiers and their families who retreated with the Kuomintang, is home to many residents with roots in Nanjing.
"We share the same language and cultural roots, making our communication naturally smooth. Through exchanges in traditional crafts, our artisans inspire one another with new ideas. This is truly valuable," said Lin Rongzong, founder of the Zen Aesthetics Workshop.
2025 Taiwan Week opens in Jiangsu to promote cultural exchanges, cross-Strait collaborations
