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
A major port in northern Venezuela came under U.S. airstrikes in the early hours of January 3, which caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, destroyed critical medical supplies in a warehouse, and severely impacted centuries-old cultural heritage sites, according to local residents.
The La Guaira Port, a vital hub for imports that support daily life in the region, was heavily damaged during the attack.
Large quantities of medical supplies stored at the port were destroyed. A historic cultural building dating back for some 300 years was also badly damaged by the bombardment.
Residents living near the port recalled the terrifying scenes as explosions shook nearby neighborhoods.
Humberto Bolivar, who lives in a community separated from the port by only a main road, said the blast waves shattered his home's windows, while stray shrapnel struck the water tank on his roof. According to reports, three missiles were fired at the port that night.
Bolivar said that beyond material losses, he is most concerned about the psychological impact on his children, who remain too frightened to leave their home days after the attack.
"The United States invaded our country. The children were frightened. This is not good for them, because it leaves some children with psychological trauma. They do not want to go to school or leave the house, because they are afraid that something worse might happen. We truly do not want this to happen to our country," he said.
Apart from civilian facilities, local cultural heritage site was also affected.
The La Guaira state government building, a structure with nearly 300 years of history and once served as the site of Venezuela's first national customs office, was struck by the force of the explosions.
Windows of the building were shattered, and furniture scattered across the floor.
"As people of La Guaira, we feel deep pain. Our cultural heritage has been bombed. We are living in constant anxiety and suffering, and life can no longer be the same as it was before," said a local named Henry Cumares.
The U.S. side has claimed the airstrikes targeted warehouses allegedly used to store narcotics. However, locals refuted such accusation.
"According to what Donald Trump said, they bombed this place using the excuse that the warehouses here were used to store drugs at the port. But based on the video released by our governor, these warehouses that were burned contained medicine for kidney patients and foods. Many people depend on these supplies to survive. I think the bombing is extremely despicable," said a local resident named Alejandro Capriles.
US strike hits Venezuelan port, wrecking medical supplies, heritage building
