People's Daily - October 7, 2026

Culture Nourishes Millennia, Hearts Bound to Home and Country

By: 本报记者 耿 磊 何思琦 李卓尔

"Culture is the soul of a country and a nation."

China's outstanding traditional culture is the cultural root of the Chinese nation. General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "We must let cultural relics speak, let history speak, and let culture speak. We must strengthen the protection and utilization of cultural relics, strengthen historical research and inheritance, and enable China's outstanding traditional culture to be continuously carried forward and developed."

During the National Day holiday, cultural and museum venues saw surging popularity, historical and cultural heritage sites attracted numerous visitors, and cultural spaces brimmed with vitality... People touched history through the activation and utilization of cultural relics, perceived feelings for family and country in history and culture, and cultivated their spirit in cultural activities. The vigorous new cultural trend during the holiday reflects the people's increasingly enriched spiritual world and diverse, multifaceted life scenes. This is both a vivid footnote to the solid advancement of building a culturally strong country and a lively portrayal of nourishing the nation's spiritual home with profound culture.

Listening to What Cultural Relics Say

—Feeling the Pulse of Cultural Heritage through Activation and Utilization

As night fell, lights gradually brightened along both banks of the Huan River in Anyang, Henan. The lighting outlined the bronze-colored architectural silhouette of the Yinxu Museum. Inside the museum's display cases, oracle bone inscriptions from more than 3,000 years ago were clearly visible under the soft lighting.

Liu Jing, a tourist from Shandong, took out her phone, opened the "Amazing Oracle Bone Inscriptions" mini-program, and began comparing and reading the characters one by one. With human-machine collaboration, the general meaning of the text on the bone fragments gradually emerged, and the scenes of the ancestors' lives and farming seemed to appear before her eyes.

"A single oracle bone startled the world," and Chinese characters spanning millennia connect ancient and modern times. The endless and vigorous (生生不息, sheng sheng bu xi - "birth, birth, not, stop") inheritance and continuation of a nation leaps vividly into view.

"Historical and cultural heritage carries the genes and bloodline of the Chinese nation. It belongs not only to our generation but also to generations to come." How to ensure the continuous extension and inheritance of the Chinese cultural lineage while protecting historical and cultural heritage has always been a question that General Secretary Xi Jinping has pondered, advanced, and promoted.

From the Palace Museum in Beijing to the Han Dynasty Culture Museum in Hepu County, Guangxi, from the Yinxu site in Henan to the Yunmeng County Museum in Hubei, General Secretary Xi Jinping's cultural footsteps have traversed landmarks of Chinese civilization.

To make cultural relics "speak" and enable historical museums and exhibitions to play the role of "witnessing history, using history to illuminate the present, and enlightening future generations," General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "Let the cultural relics collected in museums, the heritage displayed across the vast land, and the characters written in ancient books all come to life."

From the north to Jiangnan, from Bashu to Sanqin, cultural and museum venues have become highly popular "cultural living rooms" during the National Day holiday.

The National Museum of China selected more than 200 pieces (sets) of exhibits from the perspective of settlement archaeology and launched the exhibition "East of the Great River—Yuncheng and the Dawn of Chinese Civilization"; the Prince Gong Mansion Museum launched the "Gathering Radiance of Imperial Vessels·Reemergence of Glory in a Prosperous Age—Beijing Cloisonné Palace Art Special Exhibition," presenting the development trajectory of cloisonné craftsmanship from its introduction in the Yuan Dynasty to modern times; the Liangzhu Museum launched the "Cong Spectrum—Special Exhibition Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Liangzhu Site," bringing together 124 cong and cong-style vessels from 14 provinces and overseas collecting institutions...

Cultural relics do not speak, yet they tell stories without words. Today, "celebrating festivals in museums" has settled from a slogan into a new cultural "festival custom." What we see is not just the upgrading of cultural tourism consumption, but a nation's deep retrospective gaze at its cultural roots and its confident march forward.

The cultural relics work policy for the new era clearly states "protection first, strengthening management, excavating value, effective utilization, and bringing cultural relics to life." Guided by Xi Jinping's cultural thought, the ideas, humanistic spirit, and moral norms embodied in cultural relics have found new forms of expression in the new era.

During the holiday, many tourists visited the Art Museum at Deji Plaza in Nanjing, Jiangsu, put on smart wristbands, and immersively experienced the "Digital Art Exhibition of the Jinling Scroll." Forest streams gurgled, peddlers carrying loads threaded through the streets, and teahouse guests raised cups in casual conversation—the bustling scenes of Jinling a thousand years ago unfolded layer by layer through technological means. At the Hubei Provincial Museum, the full-holographic stage play "Encounter·Goujian's Sword" used cutting-edge technologies such as digital imagery and real-time virtual motion capture to lead visitors across a thousand years and revisit the Spring and Autumn period...

The driving force behind new expressions and new changes stems from adhering to a people-centered approach—the protection and utilization of cultural relics is precisely about enabling the people to enjoy cultural achievements and allowing the nourishment of civilization's history to enrich contemporary life.

When people trace oracle bone inscriptions under the night lighting of the Yinxu Museum, put on smart wristbands at the Deji Art Museum to "play the role of" a Song Dynasty scholar, or gaze at the grotto statues at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, the cultural identity that is "used daily without conscious awareness" quietly grows through experience.

Letting cultural relics speak is a vivid epitome of cultural confidence taking root, endowing the holiday with the significance of cultural inheritance and spiritual nourishment, and enabling people to appreciate history, inherit the cultural lineage, and cultivate deep feelings for family and country.

Listening to What History Says

—Comprehending Spiritual Strength through Research and Inheritance

Red flags unfurled over the Dadu River. On the first day of the National Day holiday, on the Luding Bridge in Sichuan, a young boy wearing a red scarf approached the swaying iron chains, gripped them tightly with both hands, and looked down at the surging river below. "The Red Army soldiers back then—the youngest were only a few years older than us." The boy's soft murmur gave people pause for thought.

Time returns to May 29, 1935, on the banks of the Dadu River. The bridge's wooden planks had long been removed by the enemy, leaving only 13 icy iron chains suspended across the roaring river. Amid the resounding charge bugle, 22 assault team members, holding short guns, carrying broadswords on their backs, and climbing onto the swaying iron chains, advanced inch by inch against the dense bullets from the opposite bank.

History, in its own unique way, tells people today about a nation's origins and a political party's original aspiration.

"History profoundly demonstrates that patriotism has flowed through the bloodline of the Chinese nation since ancient times—it cannot be removed, cannot be broken, cannot be extinguished."

This is a feeling engraved into the very marrow—

Greeting the first rays of morning sunlight, amid the majestic sound of the national anthem, the five-starred red flag rose slowly. On October 1, in the capital Beijing, more than 100,000 people gathered in Tiananmen Square.

"I love you—China!" Enthusiastic cheers erupted from the crowd; the song "Singing for the Motherland" rang out, stirring people's shared aspirations; before the giant "Blessings to the Motherland" flower basket, tourists raised the national flags in their hands, capturing the touching moment of magnificent landscapes (山河锦绣, shan he jin xiu - "mountain, river, brocade, beautiful") and national peace and prosperity.

Thousands of miles away, the national flag-raising ceremony was held at the Erenhot border gate in Inner Mongolia, where border inspection police officers and more than a hundred tourists stood at attention, sang the national anthem in unison, and expressed their deep love for the motherland; nearly ten thousand miles away, at the Khunjerab Entry-Exit Border Inspection Station in Xinjiang, a five-starred red flag fluttered in the wind above the world's highest-altitude border gate.

On the grand birthday of a prosperous age, with the whole nation celebrating together (举国同庆, ju guo tong qing - "whole, country, together, celebrate"), patriotic fervor surges in the hearts of Chinese people everywhere.

"For every Chinese person, patriotism is both a duty and a responsibility—it is where the heart belongs and emotions reside (心之所系、情之所归, xin zhi suo xi, qing zhi suo gui - "heart, that, which, tied; emotion, that, which, returns")."

General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest words are profoundly sincere and full of strength.

This is the deepest and most enduring emotion in the human world, the code of the Chinese civilization's endless vitality, long since forged into the nation's spiritual genes. Every ordinary person, connecting personal ideals with the future of the motherland and linking personal struggles with the destiny of the nation, forms trickling streams that ultimately converge into a mighty torrent.

How is the spirit of patriotism passed on?

History is the best textbook, and the history of the Chinese revolution is the best nutrient.

Opening this weighty book, one revolutionary site after another, one red venue after another, one period of extraordinary or tumultuous years (峥嵘岁月, zheng rong sui yue - "lofty, rugged, years, time") after another, and one heroic name after another all silently tell of the power of faith.

This is a bloodline fused into the mountains and rivers—

This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March. During this National Day holiday, at revolutionary sites and red venues, people look back on history, comprehend the original aspiration, draw strength, and forge ahead with determination.

Yan'an, the sacred place of the Chinese revolution and the cradle of New China.

At 9:30 a.m. on October 5, tourists gathered from all directions, and the "Pagoda Story Session" began on schedule. This is a special "scenery" at the Pagoda Hill scenic area in Yan'an—through vivid stories one after another, the narrators recounted the extraordinary years of the Party Central Committee in Yan'an with measured, engaging detail.

"Countless revolutionary forebears exchanged their blood for today's national peace and prosperity. As students of the new era, studying diligently is the best way to love and serve the motherland," said Yu Hanqi, a sophomore from Baicheng, Jilin.

Looking back on the road traveled, "What difficulties has our Party not experienced? What challenges has it not encountered?" General Secretary Xi Jinping's words carried resounding weight.

No matter how far forward we go, we must never forget the road we have traveled. No matter how far we go, no matter how glorious the future we reach, we must never forget the past we have traversed, and never forget why we set out.

At the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, the "Great Expedition—Special Exhibition Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March" attracted numerous visitors, presenting a panoramic reproduction of the magnificent historical facts of the Long March, with more than 300 cultural relics and documents exhibited for the first time.

Cultural relics such as the blue single-layer cotton coat worn by Red Army soldiers when crossing the snow mountains, and stories like the "half leather belt" and "half quilt," tell of the hardships and glory of the Long March. "With every step forward and every cultural relic I looked at, I gained a deeper understanding of Long March history," said visitor Chen Dong, who spent most of a day on October 3 viewing the exhibition, with deep emotion. "'If you think it's hard, think of the 25,000-li Long March'—what difficulty is there that cannot be overcome?"

Red is the most vivid background color of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out, "Glorious traditions cannot be discarded, for discarding them means losing the soul; red genes cannot be changed, for changing them means altering the very nature."

The new journey is a new Long March. "We must work together with one heart and mind to walk the new Long March well."

This is an inheritance that is endless and vigorous—

Only by excavating rich connotations and innovating forms of presentation can red history better become the living source that nourishes the whole nation's spirited and enterprising spiritual temperament, and can it provide deep and enduring spiritual momentum for forging ahead on the new journey.

Technology empowers, making red history "catch fire."

The house lights gradually dimmed, an oil lamp lit up, and the questions "Have you ever waited for someone?" "How long did you wait?" "The person you waited for—did they come back?" struck straight at the heart, bringing the audience back to those war-torn years. During the National Day holiday, the large-scale red stage play "The First Crossing of the Long March" continued its run at the Long March Grand Theater in Yudu, Jiangxi.

"Let visitors deeply comprehend the great Long March spirit through immersive experiences," said Zhong Min, director of the Yudu County Red Resources Protection and Development Center. Since its premiere in March 2023, the play has been performed nearly 800 times, attracting more than 400,000 viewers from across the country. On the first day of the National Day holiday alone, nearly a thousand viewers attended.

Digging deep into details, making red culture "come alive."

"This is a photo of my grandmother taking her oath of Party membership at the age of 102. All her life, she listened to the Party and followed the Party." At the Red Detachment of Women Memorial Park in Qionghai, Hainan, a "specially invited docent" was telling the story with deep emotion.

She is Ma Shiju, the granddaughter of Wang Yunmei, a veteran of the Red Detachment of Women. Facing tourists from all over the country, Ma Shiju revealed a little-known detail: "My grandmother was illiterate. To fulfill her dream of joining the Party, she practiced writing her own name stroke by stroke..."

In the crowd, several children listened attentively. Ma Shiju's voice was not loud, but it planted seeds in the children's hearts—history has never gone far away, and it grows ever more vivid through the telling of generation after generation.

"We must tell well the stories of the Party, the stories of the revolution, the stories of the base areas, and the stories of heroes and martyrs." General Secretary Xi Jinping spoke with earnest sincerity.

Keeping these instructions in mind, we explore deeply. In recent years, the "ways of opening" red culture have become increasingly diverse. From visiting to participating, from experiencing to comprehending, visitors complete a dialogue and emotional resonance with red history through firsthand engagement.

Years are silent, but mountains and rivers bear witness. Looking back on the road traveled, the sacrifices and contributions of our forebears have long been transformed into spiritual coordinates; looking ahead, hundreds of millions of Chinese people are writing their profound feelings for family and country into every step of forging ahead on the new journey.

"China's yesterday has been written into the annals of human history, China's today is being created in the hands of hundreds of millions of people, and China's tomorrow will surely be even better."

Listening to What Culture Says

—Carrying Forward and Developing through Innovation and Creation

When culture prospers, the nation's fortunes prosper; when culture is strong, the nation is strong.

In Mohe, Heilongjiang, the National Day holiday brought another wave of tourism peak, with the Arctic Village, the First Bay of the Heilong River scenic area, and other sites crowded with people (人头攒动, ren tou zan dong - "people, head, crowd, move"). Here, visitors can not only directly experience the ecological beauty of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and "ice and snow are also invaluable assets," but also profoundly appreciate the intellectual appeal behind this concept.

The Shui people's Duan Festival coincided with the National Day holiday. During this holiday, at the horse racing ground in Sandu Shui Autonomous County, Qiannan, Guizhou, bugles sounded loudly, and local people in festive attire welcomed the "Guizhou Village Horse" racing event. As night fell, with the river as the stage and green mountains as the backdrop, Shui double-song singing, Buyi eight-tone seated singing, and Miao bullfighting dance took the stage in turn.

We nourish the spiritual home with culture. Hundreds of millions of people are both consumers and creators of culture.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "The people's need for spiritual and cultural life exists at all times" and "As the people's living standards continue to improve, their demands for the quality, taste, and style of cultural products, including literary and artistic works, have also risen."

During the holiday, China surged with cultural enthusiasm everywhere. At Xinhua Bookstores across the country, books such as "Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Party Building," Volumes I and II, and "Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture," Volumes I and II, were displayed in prominent positions, attracting readers to stop, browse, and purchase. During the National Day Culture and Tourism Consumption Month, various regions launched more than 20,000 cultural and tourism activities and issued over 310 million yuan in consumption vouchers and other consumption subsidies. Museums, libraries, and cultural centers extended their opening hours. Cultural exhibitions, benefit performances, and red-themed plays came one after another. Village galas, village operas, and village tours appeared in succession, and various distinctive cultural and tourism activities were integrated into holiday life.

Multiple films were released simultaneously during this year's National Day box office period, with domestic films forming the mainstay of the schedule, and the "film+" cross-industry integration trend continued to heat up. As of the evening of the 6th, total box office (including pre-sales) had exceeded 1 billion yuan. Various regions continuously explored linking movie viewing with dining, retail, cultural tourism, and derivative products, creating new scenarios for holiday cultural consumption. At the same time, following dramas on screen was equally lively, covering everything from major revolutionary historical themes to period dramas and urban dramas, meeting the diverse needs of viewers.

Fertile cultural soil enriches the spiritual world, and the release of creative vitality in turn consolidates the cultural foundation. Through this two-way empowerment, Chinese culture thrives and flourishes.

At the millennium-old porcelain capital, the kiln fires are burning brightly. In July this year, the "Jingdezhen Handmade Porcelain Industry Remains" was inscribed on the World Heritage List. During the first National Day holiday after the successful inscription, at the Ancient Kiln Folk Customs Expo Area, visitors added firewood to the kiln under the guidance of the master in charge of the kiln, watching the kiln walls glow red and listening to the crackling of the firewood.

"Only after stacking firewood with my own hands did I realize how hard-won a kiln of porcelain is," said Chen Guorong, a tourist from Shanghai, after experiencing the kiln firing.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "We must protect, inherit, and disseminate these treasures of Chinese culture well."

The intangible cultural heritage craze spread across the land. In Liling, Hunan, tourists traced "underglaze polychrome" patterns on plain porcelain bodies; on the Ancient Culture Street in Tianjin, parents brought their children to make rubbings of Yangliuqing New Year paintings; in Taierzhuang, Shandong, veteran artisans taught children hand by hand to make shadow puppets. Cultural root-seeking and intangible cultural heritage check-ins became keywords for holiday travel.

Through rich and varied practices, intangible cultural heritage has "grown back" into the soil, achieving the living inheritance of "seeing the people, seeing the objects, and seeing life."

What is the experience of "stepping into a painting"? At the Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden in Kaifeng, Henan, visitors put on VR glasses and boarded an auto-navigating boat to follow a Song Dynasty secret agent on a case-solving adventure; in the naked-eye 3D dome theater, people transformed into birds soaring over the Bian River, with the bustling scenes of the ancient painting rushing toward them; the live-action horse battles empowered by AI animation and the upgraded molten iron flower show drew waves of applause.

Ancient paintings can be "entered," and a thousand years can be "touched." When culture meets technology, a whole new world opens up, allowing ancient wisdom to integrate into modern life in a lighter and more vibrant manner.

The power of culture also grows in the mountains, rivers, and countryside. During the National Day holiday, county-level tourism and rural tourism enjoyed their "highlight moment."

Dawan Village, Changle Town, Shapotou District, Zhongwei City, Ningxia, was once an ancient village that had been gradually forgotten after its residents were relocated as a whole. Today, restored rammed-earth old houses form the "Yellow River Lodging Collection," with 11 leading boutique homestay brands settling in, embracing the Yellow River, desert, Great Wall, and wetlands. Eighty percent of the service staff are local, and river beach dates and dried sweet potatoes have become hot-selling items.

The "dry sandy beach" has become a "golden sandy beach." Inside the earthen walls is modern life; open the window and you see the Yellow River at sunset. The ancient village has been reborn.

"Adhere to shaping tourism with culture and manifesting culture through tourism, and promote the integrated development of culture and tourism"—General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest instructions are being turned into reality in thousands of villages.

The integration of culture and tourism brings in popularity and retains people's hearts. The beauty of humanity and the prosperity of the economy resonate and complement each other.

Holiday China, cultural China, is also China of the world.

The relationship between countries lies in the friendship between their peoples, and the friendship between peoples lies in the connection of their hearts. At the first plenary session of the 18th BRICS Leaders' Meeting, President Xi Jinping pointed out, "Promote frequent exchanges and mutual understanding and affinity between our peoples."

At present, China has implemented unilateral visa-free entry for 50 countries and 240-hour transit visa-free entry for 57 countries. In the first three days of the holiday, foreign nationals entering through the Shanghai Pudong Airport port alone reached 43,000 person-trips, a year-on-year increase of 23.5%.

The way foreign tourists "open" China is also changing.

At Xisaishan in Huzhou, Zhejiang, during this holiday, foreign tourists not only looked at the scenery but also sat down to learn tea brewing, taste pastries, and chat about culture, "opening China" over a cup of tea. Two families from Yekaterinburg, Russia—Anna's and Natalia's—came specifically to learn from the tea artist. Natalia said she had seen a video online, "I liked it very much after watching it, and I wanted to come and see China's human geography for myself."

From inbound tourist arrivals in Zhangjiajie growing 129% year-on-year to Chongqing ranking first in growth rate among the top ten inbound tourism destinations, more and more "non-traditionally popular" cities are entering the field of vision of global tourists. "China Travel" remains highly popular on global social platforms, and overseas tourists are no longer just checking in at first-tier cities but are going deeper to experience the China of landscapes and the China of culture.

Each appreciating its own beauty while sharing beauty with others (各美其美，美美与共, ge mei qi mei, mei mei yu gong - "each, beautiful, its, beauty; beauty, beauty, with, share"), the phenomenon of Chinese culture fever has attracted worldwide attention, and the stories of Chinese culture have gone abroad, showcasing the confidence and inclusiveness of an open China.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Only a nation with cultural confidence can stand firm, stand steady, and go far."

Cultural confidence is found in the footsteps and smiles of hundreds of millions of people, and in the myriad scenes across the land of China. A China full of vitality and surging energy is striding boldly toward the bright prospect of national rejuvenation.

(People's Daily reporter Wang Jue contributed to this report)

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Reading Exchange on Spanish Edition of Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Held in Madrid

(People's Daily, Madrid, October 6) (Reporter Xu Hailin) A reading exchange on the Spanish-language edition of Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China was held on the 6th in Madrid, Spain. The event, themed "Civilizational Dialogue Empowering Shared Progress: Opportunities and Prospects for China-Spain Exchange," was attended by more than 60 representatives from the governments, universities, media, and other fields of both China and Spain.

The attending guests stated that China's continuous advancement of high-quality development has created broader opportunities for cooperation for all countries, including Spain. China and Spain should continue to expand common interests, build more consensus, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, adding stability and certainty to world economic development.

The attending guests held that the Spanish-language edition of Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China has opened an important window of thought for Spanish-speaking readers to understand China in the new era and comprehend Chinese modernization. The two sides should translate ideological consensus into practical action, deepen cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, environmental protection, digital technology, and people-to-people and cultural exchange, and let more achievements benefit the people of both countries.

José Luis Centella, chairman of the Communist Party of Spain, stated that China's high-quality development is reflected not only in economic growth, but also in the improvement of the people's quality of life, the narrowing of development gaps, and environmental improvement.

Marta Montoro, executive chair of the Spain-China Knowledge Hall Foundation, stated that the two sides, Spain and China, should strengthen listening and exchange, and find space for cooperation that turns differences into opportunities.

The attending representatives also held dialogues on deepening practical cooperation between Chinese and Spanish localities, enhancing mutual understanding, and strengthening youth exchanges. The Chinese side presented copies of the Spanish-language edition of Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China to the Spanish guests' representatives.

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Three "Grasses" Grow into a Prairie (Carrying Forward the Long March Spirit, Forging Ahead on the New Journey)

By: 本报记者 方 敏

Heading south from Zhengzhou City in Henan Province, plunging into the Dabie Mountains, passing through patch after patch of tea gardens, one arrives at Hejiachong Village, Tiepu Township, Luoshan County, Xinyang City. An ancient ginkgo tree, its crown like an umbrella, shelters the land all around.

On November 16, 1934, nearly 3,000 soldiers of the 25th Red Army gathered here, taking an oath before setting out on campaign. Over ten months, they fought their way through Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Gansu, finally reaching northern Shaanxi.

"Along that route the mountains were high and the roads perilous; shortages of clothing and medicine were the norm for the Red Army. We were saved by three 'grasses' — tea leaves for refreshment, oil-tea camellia fruit to stave off hunger, and forsythia to clear heat and detoxify," said Xu Qing, a docent at the Luoshan County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism. "These three 'grasses' were the plainest yet most precious things the people along the way could offer, and they became the Red Army's lifesaving grasses."

In September 2019, when General Secretary Xi Jinping met with representatives of Red Army descendants and family members of revolutionary martyrs at the Memorial Museum of the Former Capital of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area, he said with deep emotion: "We must never forget the revolutionary martyrs, we must never forget the people of the old revolutionary base areas, and we must build the old revolutionary base areas better so that the people there can enjoy better lives."

Keeping these instructions firmly in mind, they worked with real dedication. In recent years, under the leadership of the Party and the government, local cadres and the masses have made unremitting efforts, developing more specialty industries from these three "grasses." On this red land, the three "grasses" have become the "grasses of prosperity" for the people of the old base areas.

Heading southeast from Hejiachong Village, the car wound along mountain roads for more than two hours before arriving at Gaowan Village, Chendian Township, Xin County.

On the hillside there is an old tea garden, the tea bushes waist-high. Beside it, the former site of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Border Region Military Commission Arsenal stands in quiet dignity. Back then, the soldiers made bullets by day and reclaimed wasteland at dusk, planting this tea garden. The villagers affectionately call the tea produced here "Red Army tea."

Walking through the village, the villagers told the story of Wu Weiguo. As a descendant of Red Army soldiers, Wu Weiguo, while serving as secretary of the village Party branch, had a hope: to lead the villagers in blazing a path to prosperity and let the village's "Red Army tea" spread far and wide.

However, rugged mountain roads, difficulty in drawing water, shortage of funds, and lack of technology — one challenge after another stood in the way. "Growing good tea and selling it at a good price is my Long March," Wu Weiguo said. He took the lead in establishing a specialized cooperative, renovating the tea factory, connecting with the market, and inviting agricultural technical experts, revitalizing the tea garden step by step. Through his efforts, the village's tea gardens grew to more than 600 mu, the cooperative's annual income reached over 500,000 yuan, benefiting more than 1,200 villagers.

The red family tradition has been passed down through the generations. Last year, Wu Weiguo passed away from illness. His daughter-in-law, after retiring from military service, returned to her hometown and took up the baton of managing the tea garden, letting the fragrance of "Red Army tea" drift ever farther.

Looking at Xinyang from Gaowan Village, the city's tea garden area has reached 2.16 million mu, the comprehensive output value of the entire tea industry chain has exceeded 100 billion yuan, and the tea industry employs more than 1.2 million people.

Heading west out of Gaowan Village, it is not far to Guangshan County.

Both sides of the mountain roads are covered with oil-tea camellia trees. Cooking with tea oil gives a fragrant, non-greasy flavor. More than 90 years ago, tea oil was an important supply for the Red Army. Today, Guangshan County has introduced new varieties and promoted new techniques, improving the quality of the oil-tea camellia fruit.

Entering Henan Lianxing Oil-Tea Camellia Industry Development Co., Ltd. in Guangshan County, at the pilot base for green deep processing of oil-tea camellia, technicians are refining tea oil. The company not only produces high-quality tea oil but also processes tea shells and tea seed meal into high-purity raw materials for skin care essences.

Guangshan County's oil-tea camellia planting area has reached 323,700 mu. "We are promoting the transformation of the oil-tea camellia industry from selling oil-tea camellia fruit to selling products and selling brands," said He Xianyong, director of the Guangshan County Forestry Bureau.

Heading west along the Shanghai-Xi'an Expressway, crossing the Funiu Mountains, one arrives at Lushi County, Sanmenxia City. In the forsythia fields, the fruit has long been harvested. Duan Congfang, a third-level researcher at the Lushi County Party History and Local Chronicles Research Office, explained that in December 1934, when the 25th Red Army fought its way through Lushi County, some soldiers had frost-cracked feet, and the local people set up large cauldrons, boiled forsythia into a decoction, and washed the soldiers' frostbitten, cracked feet with it. "That pot of forsythia decoction was more precious than gold or silver."

Back then, forsythia was the Red Army's lifesaving medicine; now, forsythia is the local "golden beans." Lushi County has made forsythia a leading industry for strengthening the county and enriching the people, building 5 bases of 10,000 mu each and 40 bases of 1,000 mu each, cultivating 8 deep-processing enterprises and 15 forsythia processing cooperatives, and driving income growth for 100,000 people.

More specialty industries are growing stronger. In Tongbai County, specialty industries such as tea, Chinese medicinal herbs, edible fungi, flowers, and ecological chickens are taking shape, with the specialty planting area exceeding 900,000 mu and annual output value reaching 5 billion yuan.

The three "grasses" of those days have now grown into a vast expanse of fields.

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Festivals and Holidays Call for Thrift (Today's Commentary)

By: 翟钦奇

During this National Day holiday, a fresh breeze has swept through the streets of many cities.

In Erqi District, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, 436 national flags that had been hung were cleaned, repaired, and put into recycled use; in Jiande City, Zhejiang Province, existing natural flower borders were enhanced in quality and color to create a sea-of-flowers landscape; in Zhongxiang City, Hubei Province, no new supports were added, and old materials were refurbished and "re-employed" for the holiday celebration... making full use of everything (物尽其用, wu jin qi yong - "thing, reach, its, use"), with not much more spent, the festive atmosphere is just as joyful and lively.

The sense of ceremony lies not in the level of expenditure, but in the amount of care. The unit price of each decoration may not be high, but multiplied by the scale and frequency of use, it accumulates into a considerable expense. Using old things anew saves real money and establishes a new style of frugality; it reduces extravagance and ostentation while increasing festive creativity.

The change in decorations reflects a change in concepts and a change in work style. During this year's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, sales of mooncake gift boxes priced above 1,000 yuan declined year-on-year, but the overall sales scale of mooncakes grew. One decline, one rise — having a profound and suggestive meaning (意味深长, yi wei shen chang - "meaning, deep, profound, long"). Packaging is becoming increasingly simple, environmentally friendly, and creativity-focused; the laughter and joy of family and friends reunions are stronger; the "Clean Plate Campaign" is gradually becoming a habit... persisting with constancy and determination (持之以恒, chi zhi yi heng - "hold, with, by, perseverance") in rectifying the Four Malfeasances (四风), a new atmosphere of integrity and righteousness is becoming more abundant.

"Being frugal and plain, strenuously avoiding luxury and extravagance (力戒奢靡, li jie she mi - "strenuously, avoid, luxury, extravagance"), is our Party's heirloom." Carrying forward good work styles and using resources where they are needed most, our days will become ever more prosperous, and our undertakings ever more thriving.

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Chengdu strengthens city-university cooperation to boost sci-tech innovation momentum (Getting off to a good start in the 15th Five-Year Plan period)

By: 本报记者 张 帆 王明峰 游 仪

In Chengdu, Sichuan, at the Tianfu Jincheng Laboratory. Under the cryo-electron microscope, the structural contours of biological macromolecules are showing every minute detail clearly (纤毫毕现, xian hao bi xian - "fiber, hair, clearly, appear").

"In the early years, doing this kind of cryo-electron microscopy experiment meant waiting in a long queue, taking samples to borrow instruments from other provinces." Shao Zhenhua, a scientist at the laboratory's cryo-electron microscopy platform, recalled that at the time equipment was scarce and time was tight, and a single business trip was often only enough to run a few sets of data.

Today, through university-local government cooperation and coordinated efforts — the Chengdu municipal government and Sichuan University have jointly built the Tianfu Jincheng Laboratory, conducting research in areas such as malignant tumors, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and metabolism. "The laboratory has built one of the largest, most advanced, and openly shared cryo-electron microscopy platforms in the central and western regions, greatly improving research efficiency," Shao Zhenhua said. "We will take the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important reply letter to all faculty and students of Sichuan University as our guide, leverage the advantages of interdisciplinary integration across the humanities, sciences, engineering, and medicine, and strive to take the lead and set an example in serving the national strategy of the new era."

In July this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, the Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, emphasizing the need to "enhance the capacity for systematic, organized scientific and technological innovation." In July 2023, during an inspection tour in Sichuan, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Sichuan should leverage its advantages of having numerous universities and research institutions, a concentration of innovative talent, a relatively complete industrial system, and a strong industrial foundation, and make simultaneous efforts in scientific and technological innovation and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements." The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to "comprehensively enhance independent innovation capacity, seize the commanding heights of scientific and technological development, and promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation."

Chengdu has 66 institutions of higher learning and 161 national-level scientific and technological innovation platforms, with abundant scientific and technological innovation resources. Thoroughly implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, the Chengdu municipal government has strengthened university-local government cooperation, smoothed the channels for transforming scientific and technological achievements, and enhanced the momentum of scientific and technological innovation.

Strengthening basic research and organized scientific research tackling —

In May this year, China's first quasi-axisymmetric stellarator achieved a research breakthrough, obtaining for the first time an ultra-high-precision quasi-axisymmetric magnetic field configuration. "This device helps enhance China's original innovation capacity in the field of controlled nuclear fusion," said Xu Yuhong, director of the Institute of Fusion Science at Southwest Jiaotong University.

In 2022, with the support of relevant departments of Sichuan Province, the Chengdu municipal government, and Sichuan Tianfu New Area, the quasi-axisymmetric stellarator project of Southwest Jiaotong University was officially established. The university and local government jointly set up a dedicated working group, breaking down traditional disciplinary barriers and administrative boundaries, achieving multidisciplinary crossover, multi-institutional collaboration, and full-chain linkage, promoting the close coupling of frontier exploration and engineering implementation.

In recent years, Chengdu has joined hands with universities such as Sichuan University to restructure 11 national key laboratories, jointly build four Tianfu Laboratories in different directions, undertake more than 800 national and provincial-level research projects, attract and gather more than 1,500 talented individuals, and, relying on the advantageous disciplinary fields of relevant universities, build 10 major scientific and technological infrastructure projects such as the cross-scale vector light field, achieving notable results in organized scientific research tackling.

Accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements —

Pan Siming, a graduate of Tsinghua University who once worked abroad, returned to China and came to Chengdu, where, with the support of the Tsinghua Sichuan Energy Internet Research Institute, he carried out the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. The company he founded, Sichuan Yichong Technology Co., Ltd., has grown into a science and technology innovation enterprise with considerable potential.

"Tsinghua University provides a top-tier team and cutting-edge technology, while the Chengdu Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and Sichuan Tianfu New Area provide policy support, funding guarantees, and application scenarios, jointly promoting the implementation of scientific and technological achievements," said Lü Lanchun, director of the Institute's Science and Technology Innovation Department.

In Chengdu's Pidu District, at the Southwest Jiaotong University Pidu Advanced Manufacturing Science and Technology Innovation Park, multiple enterprises are queuing up to move in. "What we value is the university-enterprise collaborative innovation ecosystem," said Zhang Jiawei, head of the resident enterprise Chengdu Chuli Technology Co., Ltd., noting that the precise matching of enterprises' urgent needs with innovation resources has improved product performance.

In recent years, Chengdu has focused on building a "career partner" model among universities, institutes, enterprises, and localities. "The government provides carriers and policies, universities and research institutes provide projects and talent, and enterprises provide needs and application scenarios, sharing the returns from the transformation of scientific and technological achievements," introduced Chen Xu, deputy director of the Chengdu Municipal Science and Technology Bureau. Chengdu has carried out cooperation with more than 50 universities and research institutes, jointly building 20 new-type research and development institutions for university-local government cooperation, accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

Driving high-quality development of the surrounding area —

Without batteries or wires, small intelligent temperature-sensing gaskets and nuts can work stably in extreme environments. Bu Shirong, founder of Zongjiguan (Chengdu) Technology Co., Ltd. and associate professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, said the product is powered by electromagnetic fields in the air and has been applied in fields such as power generation, power transmission and distribution, and transportation.

Zongjiguan Company was incubated by the UESTC Science and Technology Innovation Valley in Chengdu's Wenjiang District. Hao Qinwei, chairman of Chengdu UESTC Asset Management Co., Ltd., introduced that the UESTC Science and Technology Innovation Valley park is jointly built by the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Wenjiang District, focusing on the development of industries such as medical-engineering crossover and information and communication, gathering 365 key enterprises, and nurturing 14 specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises and 47 national high-tech enterprises.

Driven by industry, Chengdu is building concentrated carrying zones for "R&D + transformation + incubation." The municipal and district levels have joined hands with four national university science and technology parks, adopting a "one university, multiple campuses" approach to build 20 sub-parks, and promoting universities within the region to participate in building 55 incubators. At present, Chengdu has cumulatively promoted universities and research institutes to incubate more than 600 science and technology enterprises on site.

Chengdu is continuously promoting the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. In the next step, it will strengthen organized innovation, systematic matchmaking, and effective and efficient transformation, focus on clearing the bottlenecks connecting basic research, applied development, and the transformation of achievements, and accelerate the release of the real productive forces of scientific and technological achievements.

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Photo Report

Watching films, listening to opera, visiting museums... During the National Day holiday, various regions held rich and varied (丰富多彩, feng fu duo cai - "abundant, many, diverse, colorful") cultural and tourism activities, attracting citizens and tourists to check in, appreciate, and experience the charm of culture.

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Tourist Highways Fuel the "County-Bound Travel" Boom (Vitality in New Scenarios)

By: 本报记者 郑洋洋

Coming to Yuncheng, Shanxi, more and more tourists are taking a liking to "county-bound travel."

Yuncheng City has 102 nationally protected major cultural heritage sites, placing it among the top prefecture-level cities in the country. The rich cultural relics and natural landscapes are scattered along the Yellow River route.

In 2024, Shanxi's Yellow River No. 1 Tourist Highway was fully opened to traffic. The Yuncheng section of the tourist highway, with a main line of approximately 500 kilometers, links 93 natural and cultural attractions across the city, becoming the core link in Yuncheng's cultural-tourism development.

During the National Day holiday, the reporter drove along the Yellow River No. 1 Tourist Highway, visiting three county towns in Yuncheng over three days. Observing along the way, the three county towns gave different answers.

Yuanqu County, located at the junction of Shanxi and Henan, focuses on improving supporting service capacity, making self-driving travel more comfortable and worry-free.

Gazing into the distance from Dongzhai Wharf, towering mountains (群山耸峙, qun shan song zhi - "group, mountains, tower, stand tall") and the wide water surface stretch before the eyes. Many tourists are camping on the grassy shore and experiencing water recreation activities. Zhou Tao, a tourist from Yuncheng City, said: "It's so convenient! Driving all the way here, the supporting facilities are complete and the service is thoughtful; the whole family had a great experience."

On the mountainside beside the wharf, several highway rest stops have been built alongside the tourist highway. Zhang Baobao, deputy director of the Yuanqu County Transportation Bureau, said:"The rest stops are equipped with nursing rooms and reading rooms. Tourists can rest and read here, making highway travel more comfortable and convenient."

Ruicheng County, located at a bend in the Yellow River, boasts the ancient, solemn Yuan Dynasty Yongle Palace murals. By linking individual elements into a cohesive whole (串珠成链, chuan zhu cheng lian - "string, pearls, become, chain") of tourist destinations and continuously enhancing tourists' in-depth experience, Ruicheng County has seen its popularity surge over the past two years.

Not far from Yongle Palace, Guangrenwang Temple is one of the very few surviving Tang Dynasty wooden structures in the country. Many tourists make special trips by car to hear professional explanations and experience the long history.

At Ruicheng's Dayu Ferry, the great river surges forth, and the setting sun casts a golden glow on the river's surface. Beside the ferry, the Ctrip Holiday Farm has attracted large numbers of tourists to drive in and stay overnight; homestay rooms are extremely difficult to find (一房难求, yi fang nan qiu - "one, room, difficult, seek"), and farmhouse restaurants are doing booming business.

Ruicheng County, through the construction of tourist highways, has linked together multiple themed routes including Yellow River ecological sightseeing and ancient architecture visits. "On the first day of the National Day holiday, tourist numbers grew 50% year-on-year, and the county's single-day tourist volume exceeded 26,000 people." Hao Guoxia, director of the Ruicheng County Culture and Tourism Bureau, said.

The final stop on the reporter's trip was the Guanque Tower in Yongji City, where "sharing" is the key word.

Climbing the tower and gazing into the distance, one sees the Yellow River surging forth, with Mount Hua clearly visible in the distance. Many tourists flock here to personally experience the meaning of "one must climb higher to see further" (欲穷千里目，更上一层楼, yu qiong qian li mu, geng shang yi ceng lou - "desire, exhaust, thousand, li, eye; more, ascend, one, layer, building").

Wang Hongrong, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Yongji Municipal Party Committee, introduced:"During the holiday, most tourists came by self-driving along the tourist highway, creating a parking challenge. To address this, we have opened up the courtyards of Party and government offices to welcome tourists from all over the country."

What is also shared is the night scene. As the sun sets in the west, the entire Guanque Tower scenic area lights up; fish-lantern garden tours, lotus-lantern blessing ceremonies, fireworks and bonfires, and electronic-music beer parties take turns unfolding.

The road network, extending in all directions (四通八达, si tong ba da - "four, connect, eight, reach"), has driven the continued rise of highway self-driving travel and niche, in-depth county tourism, burnishing the new cultural-tourism calling card of "county-bound travel" and activating the new engine of county cultural-tourism economic development.

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A Small Wooden Bird, Carving the Deep Bond Between the Army and the People (Stories of the Long March in Cultural Relics)

By: 本报记者 范昊天

In the golden autumn season, at the junction of Hubei and Anhui, stepping into Yingtaizhai Village, Taojiahe Township, Yingshan County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province, in a farmhouse courtyard backed against a large mountain, 68-year-old Chen Shiguo brought out her "family heirloom."

Gently opening the wooden box, a small wooden bird the size of a palm came into view. Having weathered the passage of time, its form remains lively and agile. Behind this small wooden bird lies a story of the army and people of the Dabie Mountains standing together with one heart, protecting each other through life and death (生死相护, sheng si xiang hu - "life, death, mutually, protect").

In the autumn of 1934, the 25th Red Army, which had remained steadfast in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area after the departure of the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army, moved to Taojiahe. Here, they issued the "Letter to the Toiling Masses," established Soviet political power, carried out the agrarian revolution, and conducted systematic training, making political, organizational, military, and ideological preparations for the Long March.

In late October, Kuomintang troops advanced on Taojiahe in three columns, and the 25th Red Army launched a blocking action at Niubeijijigu Mountain, northwest of Taojiahe. The battle lasted three days and two nights. Relying on the natural defenses, the Red Army dealt heavy blows to the enemy, but Red Army officers and soldiers also suffered more than 280 casualties.

During the fierce fighting, the people of Taojiahe kept delivering food and water to the Red Army, supporting the front lines. After the 25th Red Army withdrew, they again risked their lives to treat more than a hundred Red Army wounded and sick soldiers, among whom was Chen Shiguo's grandfather, Chen Hongyuan.

"According to what Grandfather said, after that battle, many soldiers were severely wounded, could not keep up with the main force, hid in the mountains, cold and hungry, and at any moment faced the danger of being captured by the enemy." Chen Shiguo said that although her grandfather's family of ten crowded together in a thatched hut, they still took in seven Red Army wounded soldiers, sending them by day to hide in the deep mountains, and bringing them back on their backs at night, hiding them in several sweet potato cellars behind the house.

"Grandfather left all the remaining grain for the Red Army, and the family members filled their stomachs with wild vegetables." Chen Shiguo said that the three Chen brothers also took turns working as casual laborers at other people's homes, exchanging their wages for grain and medicine to send to the wounded soldiers.

Under the Chen family's taking meticulous care of someone or something (悉心照料, xi xin zhao liao - "careful, heart, look after, treat"), three months later, the Red Army soldiers gradually recovered. Before returning to their units, a platoon leader surnamed Chen left the small wooden bird, which he had carved with a bayonet while recuperating from his wounds, to Chen Shiguo's father, Chen Shoutian, then six years old, and they agreed that after the revolution succeeded, they would use it as a token to recognize each other.

More than 90 years have passed, and Chen Hongyuan and Chen Shoutian, father and son, have both passed away one after another, but Chen Shiguo bears in mind the admonitions of her elders, and has always carefully guarded this small wooden bird.

In August 2021, the"Construction and Protection Plan for the Long March National Cultural Park" was promulgated, and Yingshan County was selected for key construction projects in the Hubei section. In May 2022, the Yingshan Park Project of the Long March National Cultural Park officially broke ground.

"We have focused on building five sub-projects, including the historical trail of the 25th Red Army's Long March assembly point." Chen Lin, director of the Management Center of the Yingshan Park of the Long March National Cultural Park, introduced that during the project construction process, the park continuously excavated and collected Long March cultural relics, discovering a batch of relics and historic sites such as the small wooden bird, Red Army caves, and trench remains, and launching cultural and creative products such as replicas of the small wooden bird, Long March keychains, and refrigerator magnets, which have been welcomed by tourists.

"Back then, Platoon Leader Chen did not leave his name, and after the victory of the revolution we have never had any news of him. Now, the small wooden bird has been made into cultural and creative products, traveling farther and farther, and we also hope to use it to find the descendants of Platoon Leader Chen." Chen Shiguo said.

The small wooden bird is engraved with the deep bond between the army and the people, like fish and water, and also bears witness to a new chapter of the times, in which the army loves the people and the people support the army. "We are revitalizing idle rural houses to develop the summer retreat, health preservation, tourism, and residence industry. Since 2022, we have newly opened more than 20 homestays and farmhouse inns, driving nearly a thousand people to increase their incomes and become prosperous through catering, accommodation, and agricultural specialty product operations." Yu Jianxin, deputy township head of Taojiahe Township, said.

Since its opening in November 2023, the Yingshan Park of the Long March National Cultural Park has been rated as a national 4A-level tourist attraction, has undertaken more than 1,400 batches of red education activities, has received more than 100,000 person-times of study tour teachers and students, and has cumulatively received nearly one million person-times of tourists.

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From "Book Repository" to "Nurturing Ground" (Campus Library Chronicles)

By: 本报记者 窦瀚洋

Shortly after the start of the fall semester this year, Zhang Yuting, a freshman at Zhejiang University, has already become very familiar with the ways of the main library of Zhejiang University Library, located on the Zijingang campus. "I like to come and sit here when I have no classes. Whether it's materials related to my major or fields I'm interested in, there are too many books I want to read," she said.

Following Zhang Yuting into the main library, on the second floor, a number of students have gathered in front of the themed book exhibition "Reading Sets Sail & Freshman Recommended Reading," a reading invitation initiated independently by students. "From conceiving the topic and selecting the bibliography, to on-site exhibition setup and promotional outreach, the members of the book club have been making every possible effort, hoping to recommend a reading list for their junior schoolmates," said Luo Congjing, president of the "Quest for Knowledge Book Club" and a sophomore at Zhejiang University School of Medicine.

"We adhere to a student-centered approach, encouraging students to carry out original cultural practices within the library's spaces, making the book-filled venue a stage for students' creativity to blossom," said Sun Zhouxing, director of Zhejiang University Library and Dunhe Chair Professor. He explained that the library, leveraging its spatial resources and platform advantages, has built a new educational platform of peer co-creation and independent innovation through diverse forms such as student-curated exhibitions, artistic performances, disciplinary innovation, and reading practices.

At the end of last year, the immersive drama A Night at Guantang Hall was staged in Guantang Hall on the sixth floor of Zhejiang University Library. All cast and crew members were current students from various majors across the university. Tickets for the premiere sold out within 16 seconds of going online, making the production a calling card for the library's role in educating through its venues.

"Through consulting historical materials, close reading of texts, polishing the script, and interdisciplinary collaborative rehearsals, everyone consolidated their literary literacy and honed their abilities in artistic expression, teamwork, and innovative creation," said Wang Yilin, a doctoral student at Zhejiang University's School of Liberal Arts and a cast member of A Night at Guantang Hall.

The "repository of books" has become a "field for education," and students have transformed from users of the space into co-creators of culture.

Entering the Cangqian campus of Hangzhou Normal University and pushing open the door on the first floor of the library, one finds the Ma Xulun Historical Materials Exhibition Hall and the Shen Junru Historical Materials Exhibition Hall standing side by side. Walking further in, the Library of the Worthies of Former Times comes into view, where more than 8,000 volumes of collected documents are primarily works by over 60 worthies of former times, including Jing Hengyi, Li Shutong, Lu Xun, and Feng Zikai. Physical space is integrated with digital study rooms, and exhibitions are combined with academic research.

Li Zhenghua, a junior in the School of Physics at Hangzhou Normal University, is a regular at the library, always "soaking" there in his spare time. "The library not only has a vast collection of books, but also distinctive cultural spaces such as the Library of the Worthies of Former Times and the historical materials exhibition halls. When I'm tired from reading documents or doing experiments, I take a walk through these venues, learn the stories of the worthies, and have a dialogue across time and space. It's very meaningful."

"The layout of 'two halls and one library' is not simply moving exhibition halls into the library, but deliberately integrating the university's history resources with students' daily routines: when students come to study or borrow books, they can see the university history exhibitions at a glance, with the works of the worthies right beside them, making cultural inheritance tangible and influencing others subtly and imperceptibly," said Zhu Xiaojiang, director of Hangzhou Normal University Library and professor in the Chinese Department.

Historical and cultural materials bear witness to history, and young students are also "meeting" the worthies in their own ways.

Chi Yaming is a sophomore in the School of Marxism at Hangzhou Normal University. While taking the general education course "Artificial Intelligence and Humanistic Education," she collaborated with classmates to develop a series of audiovisual scripts based on the library's collection of classics, including "Zhu Ziqing's The Back View" and "Lu Xun: Cultivating People." "I hope to use digital methods to pass on the ideas, concepts, and humanistic spirit contained in the elegant classical texts. In the library, what I touch is not only history, but also a force of passing on the torch from one generation to the next," Chi Yaming said.

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Culture Nourishes Millennia, Hearts Bound to Home and Country

By: 本报记者 耿 磊 何思琦 李卓尔

"Culture is the soul of a country and a nation."

China's outstanding traditional culture is the cultural root of the Chinese nation. General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "We must let cultural relics speak, let history speak, and let culture speak. We must strengthen the protection and utilization of cultural relics, strengthen historical research and inheritance, and enable China's outstanding traditional culture to be continuously carried forward and developed."

During the National Day holiday, cultural and museum venues saw surging popularity, historical and cultural heritage sites attracted numerous visitors, and cultural spaces brimmed with vitality... People touched history through the activation and utilization of cultural relics, perceived feelings for family and country in history and culture, and cultivated their spirit in cultural activities. The vigorous new cultural trend during the holiday reflects the people's increasingly enriched spiritual world and diverse, multifaceted life scenes. This is both a vivid footnote to the solid advancement of building a culturally strong country and a lively portrayal of nourishing the nation's spiritual home with profound culture.

Listening to What Cultural Relics Say

—Feeling the Pulse of Cultural Heritage through Activation and Utilization

As night fell, lights gradually brightened along both banks of the Huan River in Anyang, Henan. The lighting outlined the bronze-colored architectural silhouette of the Yinxu Museum. Inside the museum's display cases, oracle bone inscriptions from more than 3,000 years ago were clearly visible under the soft lighting.

Liu Jing, a tourist from Shandong, took out her phone, opened the "Amazing Oracle Bone Inscriptions" mini-program, and began comparing and reading the characters one by one. With human-machine collaboration, the general meaning of the text on the bone fragments gradually emerged, and the scenes of the ancestors' lives and farming seemed to appear before her eyes.

"A single oracle bone startled the world," and Chinese characters spanning millennia connect ancient and modern times. The endless and vigorous (生生不息, sheng sheng bu xi - "birth, birth, not, stop") inheritance and continuation of a nation leaps vividly into view.

"Historical and cultural heritage carries the genes and bloodline of the Chinese nation. It belongs not only to our generation but also to generations to come." How to ensure the continuous extension and inheritance of the Chinese cultural lineage while protecting historical and cultural heritage has always been a question that General Secretary Xi Jinping has pondered, advanced, and promoted.

From the Palace Museum in Beijing to the Han Dynasty Culture Museum in Hepu County, Guangxi, from the Yinxu site in Henan to the Yunmeng County Museum in Hubei, General Secretary Xi Jinping's cultural footsteps have traversed landmarks of Chinese civilization.

To make cultural relics "speak" and enable historical museums and exhibitions to play the role of "witnessing history, using history to illuminate the present, and enlightening future generations," General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "Let the cultural relics collected in museums, the heritage displayed across the vast land, and the characters written in ancient books all come to life."

From the north to Jiangnan, from Bashu to Sanqin, cultural and museum venues have become highly popular "cultural living rooms" during the National Day holiday.

The National Museum of China selected more than 200 pieces (sets) of exhibits from the perspective of settlement archaeology and launched the exhibition "East of the Great River—Yuncheng and the Dawn of Chinese Civilization"; the Prince Gong Mansion Museum launched the "Gathering Radiance of Imperial Vessels·Reemergence of Glory in a Prosperous Age—Beijing Cloisonné Palace Art Special Exhibition," presenting the development trajectory of cloisonné craftsmanship from its introduction in the Yuan Dynasty to modern times; the Liangzhu Museum launched the "Cong Spectrum—Special Exhibition Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Liangzhu Site," bringing together 124 cong and cong-style vessels from 14 provinces and overseas collecting institutions...

Cultural relics do not speak, yet they tell stories without words. Today, "celebrating festivals in museums" has settled from a slogan into a new cultural "festival custom." What we see is not just the upgrading of cultural tourism consumption, but a nation's deep retrospective gaze at its cultural roots and its confident march forward.

The cultural relics work policy for the new era clearly states "protection first, strengthening management, excavating value, effective utilization, and bringing cultural relics to life." Guided by Xi Jinping's cultural thought, the ideas, humanistic spirit, and moral norms embodied in cultural relics have found new forms of expression in the new era.

During the holiday, many tourists visited the Art Museum at Deji Plaza in Nanjing, Jiangsu, put on smart wristbands, and immersively experienced the "Digital Art Exhibition of the Jinling Scroll." Forest streams gurgled, peddlers carrying loads threaded through the streets, and teahouse guests raised cups in casual conversation—the bustling scenes of Jinling a thousand years ago unfolded layer by layer through technological means. At the Hubei Provincial Museum, the full-holographic stage play "Encounter·Goujian's Sword" used cutting-edge technologies such as digital imagery and real-time virtual motion capture to lead visitors across a thousand years and revisit the Spring and Autumn period...

The driving force behind new expressions and new changes stems from adhering to a people-centered approach—the protection and utilization of cultural relics is precisely about enabling the people to enjoy cultural achievements and allowing the nourishment of civilization's history to enrich contemporary life.

When people trace oracle bone inscriptions under the night lighting of the Yinxu Museum, put on smart wristbands at the Deji Art Museum to "play the role of" a Song Dynasty scholar, or gaze at the grotto statues at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, the cultural identity that is "used daily without conscious awareness" quietly grows through experience.

Letting cultural relics speak is a vivid epitome of cultural confidence taking root, endowing the holiday with the significance of cultural inheritance and spiritual nourishment, and enabling people to appreciate history, inherit the cultural lineage, and cultivate deep feelings for family and country.

Listening to What History Says

—Comprehending Spiritual Strength through Research and Inheritance

Red flags unfurled over the Dadu River. On the first day of the National Day holiday, on the Luding Bridge in Sichuan, a young boy wearing a red scarf approached the swaying iron chains, gripped them tightly with both hands, and looked down at the surging river below. "The Red Army soldiers back then—the youngest were only a few years older than us." The boy's soft murmur gave people pause for thought.

Time returns to May 29, 1935, on the banks of the Dadu River. The bridge's wooden planks had long been removed by the enemy, leaving only 13 icy iron chains suspended across the roaring river. Amid the resounding charge bugle, 22 assault team members, holding short guns, carrying broadswords on their backs, and climbing onto the swaying iron chains, advanced inch by inch against the dense bullets from the opposite bank.

History, in its own unique way, tells people today about a nation's origins and a political party's original aspiration.

"History profoundly demonstrates that patriotism has flowed through the bloodline of the Chinese nation since ancient times—it cannot be removed, cannot be broken, cannot be extinguished."

This is a feeling engraved into the very marrow—

Greeting the first rays of morning sunlight, amid the majestic sound of the national anthem, the five-starred red flag rose slowly. On October 1, in the capital Beijing, more than 100,000 people gathered in Tiananmen Square.

"I love you—China!" Enthusiastic cheers erupted from the crowd; the song "Singing for the Motherland" rang out, stirring people's shared aspirations; before the giant "Blessings to the Motherland" flower basket, tourists raised the national flags in their hands, capturing the touching moment of magnificent landscapes (山河锦绣, shan he jin xiu - "mountain, river, brocade, beautiful") and national peace and prosperity.

Thousands of miles away, the national flag-raising ceremony was held at the Erenhot border gate in Inner Mongolia, where border inspection police officers and more than a hundred tourists stood at attention, sang the national anthem in unison, and expressed their deep love for the motherland; nearly ten thousand miles away, at the Khunjerab Entry-Exit Border Inspection Station in Xinjiang, a five-starred red flag fluttered in the wind above the world's highest-altitude border gate.

On the grand birthday of a prosperous age, with the whole nation celebrating together (举国同庆, ju guo tong qing - "whole, country, together, celebrate"), patriotic fervor surges in the hearts of Chinese people everywhere.

"For every Chinese person, patriotism is both a duty and a responsibility—it is where the heart belongs and emotions reside (心之所系、情之所归, xin zhi suo xi, qing zhi suo gui - "heart, that, which, tied; emotion, that, which, returns")."

General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest words are profoundly sincere and full of strength.

This is the deepest and most enduring emotion in the human world, the code of the Chinese civilization's endless vitality, long since forged into the nation's spiritual genes. Every ordinary person, connecting personal ideals with the future of the motherland and linking personal struggles with the destiny of the nation, forms trickling streams that ultimately converge into a mighty torrent.

How is the spirit of patriotism passed on?

History is the best textbook, and the history of the Chinese revolution is the best nutrient.

Opening this weighty book, one revolutionary site after another, one red venue after another, one period of extraordinary or tumultuous years (峥嵘岁月, zheng rong sui yue - "lofty, rugged, years, time") after another, and one heroic name after another all silently tell of the power of faith.

This is a bloodline fused into the mountains and rivers—

This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March. During this National Day holiday, at revolutionary sites and red venues, people look back on history, comprehend the original aspiration, draw strength, and forge ahead with determination.

Yan'an, the sacred place of the Chinese revolution and the cradle of New China.

At 9:30 a.m. on October 5, tourists gathered from all directions, and the "Pagoda Story Session" began on schedule. This is a special "scenery" at the Pagoda Hill scenic area in Yan'an—through vivid stories one after another, the narrators recounted the extraordinary years of the Party Central Committee in Yan'an with measured, engaging detail.

"Countless revolutionary forebears exchanged their blood for today's national peace and prosperity. As students of the new era, studying diligently is the best way to love and serve the motherland," said Yu Hanqi, a sophomore from Baicheng, Jilin.

Looking back on the road traveled, "What difficulties has our Party not experienced? What challenges has it not encountered?" General Secretary Xi Jinping's words carried resounding weight.

No matter how far forward we go, we must never forget the road we have traveled. No matter how far we go, no matter how glorious the future we reach, we must never forget the past we have traversed, and never forget why we set out.

At the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, the "Great Expedition—Special Exhibition Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March" attracted numerous visitors, presenting a panoramic reproduction of the magnificent historical facts of the Long March, with more than 300 cultural relics and documents exhibited for the first time.

Cultural relics such as the blue single-layer cotton coat worn by Red Army soldiers when crossing the snow mountains, and stories like the "half leather belt" and "half quilt," tell of the hardships and glory of the Long March. "With every step forward and every cultural relic I looked at, I gained a deeper understanding of Long March history," said visitor Chen Dong, who spent most of a day on October 3 viewing the exhibition, with deep emotion. "'If you think it's hard, think of the 25,000-li Long March'—what difficulty is there that cannot be overcome?"

Red is the most vivid background color of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out, "Glorious traditions cannot be discarded, for discarding them means losing the soul; red genes cannot be changed, for changing them means altering the very nature."

The new journey is a new Long March. "We must work together with one heart and mind to walk the new Long March well."

This is an inheritance that is endless and vigorous—

Only by excavating rich connotations and innovating forms of presentation can red history better become the living source that nourishes the whole nation's spirited and enterprising spiritual temperament, and can it provide deep and enduring spiritual momentum for forging ahead on the new journey.

Technology empowers, making red history "catch fire."

The house lights gradually dimmed, an oil lamp lit up, and the questions "Have you ever waited for someone?" "How long did you wait?" "The person you waited for—did they come back?" struck straight at the heart, bringing the audience back to those war-torn years. During the National Day holiday, the large-scale red stage play "The First Crossing of the Long March" continued its run at the Long March Grand Theater in Yudu, Jiangxi.

"Let visitors deeply comprehend the great Long March spirit through immersive experiences," said Zhong Min, director of the Yudu County Red Resources Protection and Development Center. Since its premiere in March 2023, the play has been performed nearly 800 times, attracting more than 400,000 viewers from across the country. On the first day of the National Day holiday alone, nearly a thousand viewers attended.

Digging deep into details, making red culture "come alive."

"This is a photo of my grandmother taking her oath of Party membership at the age of 102. All her life, she listened to the Party and followed the Party." At the Red Detachment of Women Memorial Park in Qionghai, Hainan, a "specially invited docent" was telling the story with deep emotion.

She is Ma Shiju, the granddaughter of Wang Yunmei, a veteran of the Red Detachment of Women. Facing tourists from all over the country, Ma Shiju revealed a little-known detail: "My grandmother was illiterate. To fulfill her dream of joining the Party, she practiced writing her own name stroke by stroke..."

In the crowd, several children listened attentively. Ma Shiju's voice was not loud, but it planted seeds in the children's hearts—history has never gone far away, and it grows ever more vivid through the telling of generation after generation.

"We must tell well the stories of the Party, the stories of the revolution, the stories of the base areas, and the stories of heroes and martyrs." General Secretary Xi Jinping spoke with earnest sincerity.

Keeping these instructions in mind, we explore deeply. In recent years, the "ways of opening" red culture have become increasingly diverse. From visiting to participating, from experiencing to comprehending, visitors complete a dialogue and emotional resonance with red history through firsthand engagement.

Years are silent, but mountains and rivers bear witness. Looking back on the road traveled, the sacrifices and contributions of our forebears have long been transformed into spiritual coordinates; looking ahead, hundreds of millions of Chinese people are writing their profound feelings for family and country into every step of forging ahead on the new journey.

"China's yesterday has been written into the annals of human history, China's today is being created in the hands of hundreds of millions of people, and China's tomorrow will surely be even better."

Listening to What Culture Says

—Carrying Forward and Developing through Innovation and Creation

When culture prospers, the nation's fortunes prosper; when culture is strong, the nation is strong.

In Mohe, Heilongjiang, the National Day holiday brought another wave of tourism peak, with the Arctic Village, the First Bay of the Heilong River scenic area, and other sites crowded with people (人头攒动, ren tou zan dong - "people, head, crowd, move"). Here, visitors can not only directly experience the ecological beauty of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and "ice and snow are also invaluable assets," but also profoundly appreciate the intellectual appeal behind this concept.

The Shui people's Duan Festival coincided with the National Day holiday. During this holiday, at the horse racing ground in Sandu Shui Autonomous County, Qiannan, Guizhou, bugles sounded loudly, and local people in festive attire welcomed the "Guizhou Village Horse" racing event. As night fell, with the river as the stage and green mountains as the backdrop, Shui double-song singing, Buyi eight-tone seated singing, and Miao bullfighting dance took the stage in turn.

We nourish the spiritual home with culture. Hundreds of millions of people are both consumers and creators of culture.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "The people's need for spiritual and cultural life exists at all times" and "As the people's living standards continue to improve, their demands for the quality, taste, and style of cultural products, including literary and artistic works, have also risen."

During the holiday, China surged with cultural enthusiasm everywhere. At Xinhua Bookstores across the country, books such as "Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Party Building," Volumes I and II, and "Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Culture," Volumes I and II, were displayed in prominent positions, attracting readers to stop, browse, and purchase. During the National Day Culture and Tourism Consumption Month, various regions launched more than 20,000 cultural and tourism activities and issued over 310 million yuan in consumption vouchers and other consumption subsidies. Museums, libraries, and cultural centers extended their opening hours. Cultural exhibitions, benefit performances, and red-themed plays came one after another. Village galas, village operas, and village tours appeared in succession, and various distinctive cultural and tourism activities were integrated into holiday life.

Multiple films were released simultaneously during this year's National Day box office period, with domestic films forming the mainstay of the schedule, and the "film+" cross-industry integration trend continued to heat up. As of the evening of the 6th, total box office (including pre-sales) had exceeded 1 billion yuan. Various regions continuously explored linking movie viewing with dining, retail, cultural tourism, and derivative products, creating new scenarios for holiday cultural consumption. At the same time, following dramas on screen was equally lively, covering everything from major revolutionary historical themes to period dramas and urban dramas, meeting the diverse needs of viewers.

Fertile cultural soil enriches the spiritual world, and the release of creative vitality in turn consolidates the cultural foundation. Through this two-way empowerment, Chinese culture thrives and flourishes.

At the millennium-old porcelain capital, the kiln fires are burning brightly. In July this year, the "Jingdezhen Handmade Porcelain Industry Remains" was inscribed on the World Heritage List. During the first National Day holiday after the successful inscription, at the Ancient Kiln Folk Customs Expo Area, visitors added firewood to the kiln under the guidance of the master in charge of the kiln, watching the kiln walls glow red and listening to the crackling of the firewood.

"Only after stacking firewood with my own hands did I realize how hard-won a kiln of porcelain is," said Chen Guorong, a tourist from Shanghai, after experiencing the kiln firing.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "We must protect, inherit, and disseminate these treasures of Chinese culture well."

The intangible cultural heritage craze spread across the land. In Liling, Hunan, tourists traced "underglaze polychrome" patterns on plain porcelain bodies; on the Ancient Culture Street in Tianjin, parents brought their children to make rubbings of Yangliuqing New Year paintings; in Taierzhuang, Shandong, veteran artisans taught children hand by hand to make shadow puppets. Cultural root-seeking and intangible cultural heritage check-ins became keywords for holiday travel.

Through rich and varied practices, intangible cultural heritage has "grown back" into the soil, achieving the living inheritance of "seeing the people, seeing the objects, and seeing life."

What is the experience of "stepping into a painting"? At the Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden in Kaifeng, Henan, visitors put on VR glasses and boarded an auto-navigating boat to follow a Song Dynasty secret agent on a case-solving adventure; in the naked-eye 3D dome theater, people transformed into birds soaring over the Bian River, with the bustling scenes of the ancient painting rushing toward them; the live-action horse battles empowered by AI animation and the upgraded molten iron flower show drew waves of applause.

Ancient paintings can be "entered," and a thousand years can be "touched." When culture meets technology, a whole new world opens up, allowing ancient wisdom to integrate into modern life in a lighter and more vibrant manner.

The power of culture also grows in the mountains, rivers, and countryside. During the National Day holiday, county-level tourism and rural tourism enjoyed their "highlight moment."

Dawan Village, Changle Town, Shapotou District, Zhongwei City, Ningxia, was once an ancient village that had been gradually forgotten after its residents were relocated as a whole. Today, restored rammed-earth old houses form the "Yellow River Lodging Collection," with 11 leading boutique homestay brands settling in, embracing the Yellow River, desert, Great Wall, and wetlands. Eighty percent of the service staff are local, and river beach dates and dried sweet potatoes have become hot-selling items.

The "dry sandy beach" has become a "golden sandy beach." Inside the earthen walls is modern life; open the window and you see the Yellow River at sunset. The ancient village has been reborn.

"Adhere to shaping tourism with culture and manifesting culture through tourism, and promote the integrated development of culture and tourism"—General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest instructions are being turned into reality in thousands of villages.

The integration of culture and tourism brings in popularity and retains people's hearts. The beauty of humanity and the prosperity of the economy resonate and complement each other.

Holiday China, cultural China, is also China of the world.

The relationship between countries lies in the friendship between their peoples, and the friendship between peoples lies in the connection of their hearts. At the first plenary session of the 18th BRICS Leaders' Meeting, President Xi Jinping pointed out, "Promote frequent exchanges and mutual understanding and affinity between our peoples."

At present, China has implemented unilateral visa-free entry for 50 countries and 240-hour transit visa-free entry for 57 countries. In the first three days of the holiday, foreign nationals entering through the Shanghai Pudong Airport port alone reached 43,000 person-trips, a year-on-year increase of 23.5%.

The way foreign tourists "open" China is also changing.

At Xisaishan in Huzhou, Zhejiang, during this holiday, foreign tourists not only looked at the scenery but also sat down to learn tea brewing, taste pastries, and chat about culture, "opening China" over a cup of tea. Two families from Yekaterinburg, Russia—Anna's and Natalia's—came specifically to learn from the tea artist. Natalia said she had seen a video online, "I liked it very much after watching it, and I wanted to come and see China's human geography for myself."

From inbound tourist arrivals in Zhangjiajie growing 129% year-on-year to Chongqing ranking first in growth rate among the top ten inbound tourism destinations, more and more "non-traditionally popular" cities are entering the field of vision of global tourists. "China Travel" remains highly popular on global social platforms, and overseas tourists are no longer just checking in at first-tier cities but are going deeper to experience the China of landscapes and the China of culture.

Each appreciating its own beauty while sharing beauty with others (各美其美，美美与共, ge mei qi mei, mei mei yu gong - "each, beautiful, its, beauty; beauty, beauty, with, share"), the phenomenon of Chinese culture fever has attracted worldwide attention, and the stories of Chinese culture have gone abroad, showcasing the confidence and inclusiveness of an open China.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Only a nation with cultural confidence can stand firm, stand steady, and go far."

Cultural confidence is found in the footsteps and smiles of hundreds of millions of people, and in the myriad scenes across the land of China. A China full of vitality and surging energy is striding boldly toward the bright prospect of national rejuvenation.

(People's Daily reporter Wang Jue contributed to this report)

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Supporting the Happiness of Older Adults (Cultivating More "China Services" Brands)

By: 本报记者 邓建胜 姚雪青

In the early morning, at her home in Fugui Mountain No. 2 Residential Community, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 70-year-old Bai Qiuping (柏秋萍) braces herself on the bed rail to get up. In the bathroom, there is a smart toilet and an anti-slip shower chair; on the kitchen wall, smoke and gas alarms glow green; the call button by the bed responds immediately upon pressing (一按即应, yi an ji ying - "one press, immediately respond")... In the 40-plus-square-meter home, after age-friendly renovation, there is support everywhere. At noon, Bai Qiuping and her husband walk five minutes to the community elderly-care service center's meal assistance point for lunch.

Jiangsu has a large elderly population base with rapid growth, and all 13 prefecture-level cities have entered a moderately aging society. In September 2021, Jiangsu launched the "Su Shi Yang Lao" (苏适养老) elderly-care service brand, promoting the upgrade of elderly-care services from "guaranteeing basics" to "high quality."

Weaving a dense elderly-care service network—

The community elderly-care service center that Bai Qiuping and her husband often visit is precisely an important component of "Su Shi Yang Lao" in solving the fragmentation problem of home-based elderly-care services and building a "15-minute elderly-care service circle."

A person in charge of the Elderly-Care Service Division of the Nanjing Civil Affairs Bureau introduced that most elderly people prefer home-based care. Since 2021, Nanjing has launched a "home-based elderly-care service list," introducing third-party institutions to provide age-friendly renovation plans, with the government providing certain subsidies, weaving a service network that keeps the elderly comfortable and at ease.

As the "basic plate" of the "Su Shi Yang Lao" service brand, "enjoying old age in place" and "community-based care for the aged" are being steadily advanced: Jiangsu has built more than 20,000 family elderly-care nursing beds and completed age-friendly renovations for more than 300,000 households; it has built 531 comprehensive elderly-care service centers on urban streets and more than 18,000 service stations, achieving full coverage of urban streets.

Promoting integrated medical and elderly-care services—

At the Chaihe Town Nursing Home in Hongze District, Huai'an City, 64-year-old Zhou Kaiqian (周开前) fell into a coma from a cerebral hemorrhage, and medical staff quickly administered oxygen and blood pressure reduction, with a green channel directly connecting to the district people's hospital; 72-year-old Gao Xiuying (高秀英), paralyzed in bed for three years, has not a single bedsore on her body, with a monthly fee of 1,800 yuan, and after consumption voucher subsidies, her personal actual burden is about 1,000 yuan...

The Chaihe Town Nursing Home is also the township health center. In the past, the nursing home only handled board and lodging, and the health center's bed utilization rate was low. In August 2023, the two institutions removed the wall and merged into one, moving medical care and daily living care from "physical adjacency" to "functional integration." Niu Yalin (牛亚林), chief of the Elderly-Care Service Division of the Huai'an Civil Affairs Bureau, introduced that Huai'an has broken through the problem through reform, implementing "integration of the two institutions," with the health department expanding the health center's diagnosis and treatment scope and adding elderly-nursing care functions; the civil affairs department pooling custodial care fees for the health center's unified use and issuing elderly-care service consumption vouchers as subsidies; the medical insurance department opening one-stop settlement within the institution, layered with long-term care insurance...

This year, Jiangsu is promoting this model across the province: initially advancing the co-construction of 30 township nursing homes with township health centers, supporting county-level public hospitals and qualified primary-level medical and health institutions to extend and carry out integrated medical and elderly-care services, and within the year, each county (city, district) will build at least one integrated medical and elderly-care institution.

Tapping the potential of the silver economy—

Just before Qingming Festival this year, 75-year-old Ms. Shen (沈阿婆), a Suzhou resident, wanted to go up the mountain to sweep her parents' graves, but her legs made it difficult, so she sought help from the civil affairs bureau. The bureau connected with industrial resources, and the local enterprise Maibo Intelligent Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. delivered an exoskeleton robot. Wearing it, Ms. Shen walked up the mountain path and bowed deeply before her parents' graves. Through the civil affairs department's coordination, Maibo Technology's age-friendly products passed evaluation and were trialed at the Suzhou Social Welfare Institute, with more than 300 elderly people trying them within two months. In the past, the company's customer base was mainly disabled people; now silver-economy orders account for 80 percent.

Since April last year, Suzhou has held a supply-demand matching event every month, pooling resources from all sides and guiding enterprises to develop age-friendly products according to demand. Hu Ying (胡莹), deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Suzhou Civil Affairs Bureau, introduced that Suzhou has now sorted out 10 silver-economy industrial chains and 16,000 related enterprises, with 112 products completing real-scenario evaluation and being promoted for application.

Looking toward the 15th Five-Year Plan, Jiangsu is comprehensively stimulating the vitality of the silver economy, focusing on accelerating development in three major fields and 10 directions: elderly product manufacturing, elderly-care services, and anti-aging industries. At present, Jiangsu's silver economy has exceeded 500 billion yuan in total output.

From "giving money and goods" to "building scenarios and creating an ecosystem," "Su Shi Yang Lao" is moving from vision into daily life.

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Three "Grasses" Grow into a Prairie (Carrying Forward the Long March Spirit, Forging Ahead on the New Journey)

By: 本报记者 方 敏

Heading south from Zhengzhou City in Henan Province, plunging into the Dabie Mountains, passing through patch after patch of tea gardens, one arrives at Hejiachong Village, Tiepu Township, Luoshan County, Xinyang City. An ancient ginkgo tree, its crown like an umbrella, shelters the land all around.

On November 16, 1934, nearly 3,000 soldiers of the 25th Red Army gathered here, taking an oath before setting out on campaign. Over ten months, they fought their way through Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Gansu, finally reaching northern Shaanxi.

"Along that route the mountains were high and the roads perilous; shortages of clothing and medicine were the norm for the Red Army. We were saved by three 'grasses' — tea leaves for refreshment, oil-tea camellia fruit to stave off hunger, and forsythia to clear heat and detoxify," said Xu Qing, a docent at the Luoshan County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism. "These three 'grasses' were the plainest yet most precious things the people along the way could offer, and they became the Red Army's lifesaving grasses."

In September 2019, when General Secretary Xi Jinping met with representatives of Red Army descendants and family members of revolutionary martyrs at the Memorial Museum of the Former Capital of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area, he said with deep emotion: "We must never forget the revolutionary martyrs, we must never forget the people of the old revolutionary base areas, and we must build the old revolutionary base areas better so that the people there can enjoy better lives."

Keeping these instructions firmly in mind, they worked with real dedication. In recent years, under the leadership of the Party and the government, local cadres and the masses have made unremitting efforts, developing more specialty industries from these three "grasses." On this red land, the three "grasses" have become the "grasses of prosperity" for the people of the old base areas.

Heading southeast from Hejiachong Village, the car wound along mountain roads for more than two hours before arriving at Gaowan Village, Chendian Township, Xin County.

On the hillside there is an old tea garden, the tea bushes waist-high. Beside it, the former site of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Border Region Military Commission Arsenal stands in quiet dignity. Back then, the soldiers made bullets by day and reclaimed wasteland at dusk, planting this tea garden. The villagers affectionately call the tea produced here "Red Army tea."

Walking through the village, the villagers told the story of Wu Weiguo. As a descendant of Red Army soldiers, Wu Weiguo, while serving as secretary of the village Party branch, had a hope: to lead the villagers in blazing a path to prosperity and let the village's "Red Army tea" spread far and wide.

However, rugged mountain roads, difficulty in drawing water, shortage of funds, and lack of technology — one challenge after another stood in the way. "Growing good tea and selling it at a good price is my Long March," Wu Weiguo said. He took the lead in establishing a specialized cooperative, renovating the tea factory, connecting with the market, and inviting agricultural technical experts, revitalizing the tea garden step by step. Through his efforts, the village's tea gardens grew to more than 600 mu, the cooperative's annual income reached over 500,000 yuan, benefiting more than 1,200 villagers.

The red family tradition has been passed down through the generations. Last year, Wu Weiguo passed away from illness. His daughter-in-law, after retiring from military service, returned to her hometown and took up the baton of managing the tea garden, letting the fragrance of "Red Army tea" drift ever farther.

Looking at Xinyang from Gaowan Village, the city's tea garden area has reached 2.16 million mu, the comprehensive output value of the entire tea industry chain has exceeded 100 billion yuan, and the tea industry employs more than 1.2 million people.

Heading west out of Gaowan Village, it is not far to Guangshan County.

Both sides of the mountain roads are covered with oil-tea camellia trees. Cooking with tea oil gives a fragrant, non-greasy flavor. More than 90 years ago, tea oil was an important supply for the Red Army. Today, Guangshan County has introduced new varieties and promoted new techniques, improving the quality of the oil-tea camellia fruit.

Entering Henan Lianxing Oil-Tea Camellia Industry Development Co., Ltd. in Guangshan County, at the pilot base for green deep processing of oil-tea camellia, technicians are refining tea oil. The company not only produces high-quality tea oil but also processes tea shells and tea seed meal into high-purity raw materials for skin care essences.

Guangshan County's oil-tea camellia planting area has reached 323,700 mu. "We are promoting the transformation of the oil-tea camellia industry from selling oil-tea camellia fruit to selling products and selling brands," said He Xianyong, director of the Guangshan County Forestry Bureau.

Heading west along the Shanghai-Xi'an Expressway, crossing the Funiu Mountains, one arrives at Lushi County, Sanmenxia City. In the forsythia fields, the fruit has long been harvested. Duan Congfang, a third-level researcher at the Lushi County Party History and Local Chronicles Research Office, explained that in December 1934, when the 25th Red Army fought its way through Lushi County, some soldiers had frost-cracked feet, and the local people set up large cauldrons, boiled forsythia into a decoction, and washed the soldiers' frostbitten, cracked feet with it. "That pot of forsythia decoction was more precious than gold or silver."

Back then, forsythia was the Red Army's lifesaving medicine; now, forsythia is the local "golden beans." Lushi County has made forsythia a leading industry for strengthening the county and enriching the people, building 5 bases of 10,000 mu each and 40 bases of 1,000 mu each, cultivating 8 deep-processing enterprises and 15 forsythia processing cooperatives, and driving income growth for 100,000 people.

More specialty industries are growing stronger. In Tongbai County, specialty industries such as tea, Chinese medicinal herbs, edible fungi, flowers, and ecological chickens are taking shape, with the specialty planting area exceeding 900,000 mu and annual output value reaching 5 billion yuan.

The three "grasses" of those days have now grown into a vast expanse of fields.

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Page 1 editors: Jiang Xuejie, Zhang Shuaizhen, Chen Zhen; Page 2 editors: Bai Zhiyu, Cui Bin, Zhang Xueyan; Page 3 editors: Han Xiaoming, Jiang Bo, Guan Haoyu

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An Important Window for Expanding Opening-Up, Connecting the Globe, Empowering Industries, and Benefiting People's Livelihoods (CIIE Observations)

By: 本报记者 田 泓

From November 5 to 10, the ninth China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). As the world's first national-level expo themed on import, the previous eight CIIE sessions have cumulatively attracted more than 27,000 enterprises from over 180 countries and regions to participate, with intended transaction volume exceeding US$580 billion. It has not only realized the transformation of "exhibits into commodities," but also built a bridge for "exhibitors to become investors," serving as an important gateway for foreign enterprises to enter and take root in China. Arriving exactly as expected (如期而至, ru qi er zhi - "as scheduled, arrive on time") and improving with each edition, the CIIE has become an important window for China to expand opening up, connect with the world, empower industries, and benefit people's livelihoods.

An Appointment of Openness, Sharing China's Opportunities

It is reported that many CIIE "old friends" are preparing to showcase their "signature skills," planning a series of world premieres, first exhibitions, and debut shows to centrally display their innovation and development achievements: Louis Dreyfus will exhibit a series of innovative animal nutrition products including specialty phospholipids and specialty proteins, which were independently developed by the group's global R&D center in Shanghai; Kao will appear with many of its major brands, demonstrating how to explore sustainable lifestyles for the future; Rockwell Automation will not only hold the global premiere of a high-performance control platform, but will also bring the latest practices in green transformation...

"I very much look forward to attending the CIIE in Shanghai this November. The CIIE is an important platform that brings together global innovative ideas, connects consumers with partners, and transforms innovation into development opportunities. The Estée Lauder Group has been deeply cultivating the Chinese market for more than 30 years. China is not only one of our important global markets, but is also increasingly becoming an important source of talent, insights, and inspiration for the group," said Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Estée Lauder Group. He stated that he will come to the CIIE site for the first time this year, thereby demonstrating the group's long-term confidence in deepening its presence in China.

At the ninth CIIE, 169 enterprises and 30 overseas exhibition organizing institutions will be "full-attendance participants"; approximately 50% of exhibitors are "repeat customers," covering about 80% of the exhibition area. Behind the CIIE's strong "magnetic pull" is China's unremitting efforts to persist in advancing high-level opening up to the outside world and share development opportunities with the world.

Over the years, the CIIE has provided free booths to exhibitors from least developed countries. This year, it will upgrade the Asia-Africa product zones, help African countries with diplomatic relations seize the "zero-tariff" opportunity, and encourage more Global South countries to make good use of the CIIE platform.

In early August this year, the Ivory Coast Export Council confirmed that it would organize a delegation of small and medium-sized enterprises to appear at the ninth CIIE, bringing specialty agricultural products such as coffee, dried fruit, cocoa, and cashew nuts. The China-ASEAN Economic and Trade Center will officially launch the "Cross-border Entrepreneurs Club" during the ninth CIIE, providing normalized full-chain services for domestic enterprises to expand into ASEAN.

Mutual Empowerment, Jointly Pursuing Global Innovation

In August this year, German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim announced another upgrade of its strategy in China, and will soon establish a new R&D center in Zhangjiang, Shanghai. Having exhibited for eight consecutive years, Boehringer Ingelheim has cumulatively showcased nearly 50 innovative products and solutions at previous CIIE sessions, with multiple achievements realizing the leap from "exhibits" to "commodities." Since 2025, several of the company's new drugs have been approved for market launch in China, with some products achieving simultaneous global approval or even global first launch.

For many multinational enterprises, the CIIE is not only a stage for global new product premieres, but also an entry point for mutual empowerment between global innovation and the Chinese market.

Since the beginning of this year, German chemical and consumer goods manufacturer Henkel has actively expanded its business layout in China and deeply integrated into the local industrial chain. In the consumer goods sector, Asia's first Vidal Sassoon beauty industry and first Sassoon salon were unveiled in Shanghai, completing the beauty industry layout from professional education and product innovation to terminal services; in the industrial sector, Henkel and CALB jointly inaugurated a battery innovation center in Changzhou, Jiangsu, promoting safer, higher-performance, and more sustainable battery technologies to accelerate their entry into the market.

Henkel will appear at the CIIE for the eighth time this year. Centered on the theme "Together, Empowering a New Era," it will centrally present cutting-edge technologies, innovative products, and sustainable solutions from around the world, and promote their deep connection with China's rich industrial scenarios and consumer demands. Anna, President of Henkel Greater China, stated: "As a long-term participant in the CIIE, Henkel regards the CIIE as an important bridge connecting global innovation resources with Chinese market demand, deepening partner cooperation, and creating value together."

Building Platforms, Releasing Spillover Effects

During the National Day holiday, the pop-up activities of Greenland's CIIE Market at the Lingang store, Suzhou store, and Panlong Tiandi store were linked across multiple locations, placing CIIE-same products, country-specific specialty goods, and food directly before consumers. In the first three days of the holiday, the cumulative foot traffic at Greenland Trade Port Market exceeded 50,000 visits, and sales of CIIE-same food and imported ingredients increased by more than 85% year-on-year. Xue Yingjie, General Manager of Greenland Trade Port Group, stated that as a year-round trading platform of the CIIE, Greenland Trade Port will continuously introduce new brands, create new scenarios, and actively absorb the spillover effects of the CIIE.

Over the previous eight CIIE sessions, Shanghai Bailian Group has cumulatively reached 170 intended procurement projects in fields such as food, consumer goods, and medical devices, established long-term and stable cooperative relationships with numerous overseas brand owners, continuously promoted the transformation of "exhibits into commodities," and fully released the spillover effects of the CIIE's "6 days + 365 days" trading service platform. Its subsidiary Bailian Co., Ltd. focuses on core consumer categories such as beauty products to deepen the transformation of CIIE outcomes. It has already established in-depth cooperation with more than 80 international beauty brands, relying on its omni-channel network to achieve rapid market entry for overseas new products.

Ge Hong, Deputy Director of the China International Import Expo Bureau, stated that the ninth CIIE firmly serves the national strategy, coordinates and links with the three major brands of "Export China," "Shop in China," and "Invest in China," and promotes high-quality development through the practice of high-level opening up; persists in curating the exhibition toward innovation, green development, creativity, and excellence, actively showcasing "black technology" and "hard technology," and expanding quality imports and promoting balanced trade development with greater intensity; creates diverse matchmaking scenarios, holds events such as important buyer product selection sessions, buyer corridors, and trade and investment matchmaking meetings, promoting precise matching and effective docking between exhibitors and buyers, while upgrading the "Home of Trading Delegations" to provide a one-stop platform and integrated services.

As the host city of the CIIE, Shanghai is comprehensively improving service guarantees. Support systems for urban transportation, port customs clearance, and smart operation and maintenance are fully in place, with continuous optimization of facilitation measures such as the "green channel" for exhibits, express customs clearance, bonded display, and on-site settlement; various supply-demand matchmaking meetings, industry forums, investment negotiations, and policy interpretation activities are being intensively prepared, and the long-term transformation mechanism of "exhibits into commodities, exhibitors into investors" is becoming more mature.

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Promoting Kyrgyzstan-China Permanent Good-Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation to New Heights (International Forum)

By: 伊斯梅尔·达伊罗夫

The long-term stable good-neighborly and friendly relations between Kyrgyzstan and China not only serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also help jointly respond to risks and challenges and achieve common development.

An ancient Chinese saying goes: "A near neighbor is better than a distant relative (远亲不如近邻, yuan qin bu ru jin lin - "distant, relative, not, equal to, near, neighbor")." Kyrgyzstan and China are friendly neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, and the two peoples share a long tradition of good-neighborliness, friendship, and cooperation. At present, the international situation is fraught with turbulence and change, and the global governance system is undergoing profound adjustment. Amid the major transformation of the world, neighboring countries need to enhance mutual trust and strengthen cooperation all the more. Not long ago, during President Xi Jinping's state visit to Kyrgyzstan, the heads of state of the two countries jointly signed the Treaty on Permanent Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the Kyrgyz Republic, consolidating in legal form the two sides' commitment to everlasting friendship. The long-term stable good-neighborly and friendly relations between Kyrgyzstan and China not only serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also help jointly respond to risks and challenges and achieve common development.

Permanent good-neighborliness and friendship require a solid foundation of practical cooperation. Economic and trade cooperation and connectivity are important components of Kyrgyzstan-China cooperation. At present, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project is advancing at an accelerated pace, which will further unleash Kyrgyzstan's transit transport potential, improve regional connectivity conditions, and create more opportunities for Kyrgyzstan's economic and social development. Energy cooperation between the two countries also has broad prospects. As a scholar who has long been engaged in research on ecological and climate issues, I attach great importance to the concept of ecological civilization construction put forward by China and have long followed the ideas, principles, and practices China has accumulated in the fields of ecological environmental protection, green development, and climate governance. Ecological and environmental challenges know no borders, and no country can address them alone. Kyrgyzstan is rich in natural resources and has considerable development potential in clean energy fields such as hydropower, solar energy, and wind energy. Through green cooperation to draw on and apply China's concepts and practical experience in ecological civilization construction, Kyrgyzstan's green, low-carbon transition and sustainable development will be strongly empowered.

To further upgrade and improve Kyrgyzstan-China cooperation, the two sides should continue to strengthen the alignment of development strategies and the exchange of governance experience. An important lesson from China's development is that it attaches great importance to long-term strategic planning, closely integrates long-term development goals with stage-by-stage tasks and concrete realities, and pays attention to the supporting role of infrastructure in economic development, creating conditions for industrial development through the interconnection of transport, energy, water conservancy, industrial, and digital infrastructure. Kyrgyzstan and China are at different stages of development, and drawing on the experience of Chinese modernization must be based on Kyrgyzstan's own national conditions, resource endowments, and development circumstances. By institutionalizing the exchange of governance experience and deepening communication and collaboration in such areas as strategic planning, implementation of development projects, project performance evaluation, talent cultivation, and digital government development, the two countries can upgrade their cooperation from project construction to long-term exchange at the level of development concepts, governance experience, and strategic planning, thereby better realizing the alignment of the two countries' development strategies.

From the perspective of the broader regional development picture, the deepening of good-neighborly friendship and practical cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and China will inject momentum into peace and development in the region and beyond. As founding members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the two countries will continue to expand law-enforcement and security cooperation and jointly combat the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, drug trafficking, and transnational crime, which will help safeguard regional peace and stability. Kyrgyzstan's historic election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council provides an important opportunity for the two countries to deepen multilateral coordination and jointly uphold international fairness and justice. The two sides firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order based on international law, practice the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, implement the four major global initiatives, unequivocally oppose hegemonism, unilateralism, and bloc confrontation, and work to build a more just and equitable global governance system.

A permanent good-neighborly and friendly relationship needs not only to be constantly enriched in substance through practical cooperation, but also to be jointly safeguarded by generation after generation. Taking the signing of the Treaty on Permanent Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation as a new starting point, Kyrgyzstan and China will continue to consolidate political mutual trust, strengthen the alignment of development strategies and the exchange of governance experience, and expand practical cooperation in such fields as green development, connectivity, industry, and education, bringing more tangible development opportunities to the two peoples.

(The author is a commentator for Kyrgyzstan's Slovo Kyrgyzstana newspaper)

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“Powerfully Advancing the Democratization of International Relations”

By: 本报记者 张志文

"BRICS cooperation is built on the foundation of equal consultation and respect for diversity, and helps translate the growing influence of emerging economies and developing countries into practical and feasible solutions, powerfully advancing the democratization of international relations." Muhammad Ali, Director of the Trends Research & Advisory Center in the United Arab Emirates, said in a recent exclusive interview with our reporter that in the face of an increasingly complex international environment, it is particularly important to uphold and promote the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, and to jointly defend multilateralism.

Ali believes that the BRICS countries' steady advancement of the expansion process and the strengthening of "greater BRICS cooperation" reflect a structural shift in today's international relations and demonstrate the aspiration of the Global South to enhance its voice in global governance and international affairs. The ever-growing BRICS cooperation connects the world's major markets, energy producers and consumers, financial centers, industrial powers, and technology ecosystems, building a broad platform for promoting global trade and investment, infrastructure construction, safeguarding food and energy security, and advancing digital transformation and climate action.

"China is a major driving force of the BRICS cooperation mechanism." Ali stated that China has always supported giving emerging economies and developing countries a greater voice, promoted the creation of the New Development Bank, advanced the establishment of the Partnership on New Industrial Revolution, initiated the "BRICS Plus" cooperation model, facilitated dialogue between BRICS countries and emerging economies, and expanded the scope of BRICS cooperation to the Global South. "The Chinese side has proposed building a 'peaceful BRICS,' an 'innovative BRICS,' a 'green BRICS,' a 'just BRICS,' and a 'people-centered BRICS,' which has expanded the depth and breadth of BRICS cooperation, drawn a blueprint for 'greater BRICS cooperation,' and further consolidated the common values of the Global South," Ali said.

On January 1, 2024, the UAE became an official member of BRICS. Ali believes that the BRICS cooperation mechanism promotes emerging economies and developing countries to strengthen cooperation in climate finance, energy transition, trade, and global governance reform. "As a responsible energy-producing country, the UAE can contribute to maintaining market stability through reliable energy supply, while leveraging its rich experience in green development to support the Global South in actively exploring new pathways for safeguarding energy security and advancing green development," Ali stated.

"In recent years, political mutual trust between the UAE and China has continued to deepen, and practical cooperation has advanced steadily. The two countries have enhanced coordination and cooperation on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations and the BRICS cooperation mechanism, which helps advance global governance reform and achieve sustainable development." Ali stated that next year China will assume the rotating presidency of BRICS, and he looks forward to the UAE and China joining hands to strengthen cooperation in new fields such as clean energy transition, artificial intelligence governance, and innovative development of digital trade, enriching the substance of "greater BRICS cooperation" through concrete actions, and further demonstrating the determination and strength of BRICS countries in leading global inclusive development.

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UN Human Rights Council Adopts Resolution on Accessibility Construction to Promote Enjoyment of All Human Rights

(People's Daily, Berlin, October 6) (Reporter Liu He) Geneva dispatch: At the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, on the 5th, a resolution titled "Accessibility Construction to Promote the Enjoyment of All Human Rights by All People," proposed by China on behalf of 47 countries, was adopted by reaching a consensus through consultation (协商一致, xie shang yi zhi - "consult, negotiate, one, consistent").

Jia Guide, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland, stated when introducing the draft resolution that the construction of an accessible environment provides important guarantees for various groups to participate in social life equally and conveniently and to fully realize all human rights. This draft resolution focuses on population aging and is committed to promoting accessibility construction and age-friendly renovation; it focuses on the opportunities and challenges brought by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, and calls on all countries to adhere to principles such as innovation, inclusiveness, openness, fairness, safety, and reliability in the development and use of emerging digital technologies, so as to promote accessible information and communication.

All parties believe that the resolution promotes international cooperation in relevant fields and meets the needs of developing countries. After the resolution was adopted, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and many countries expressed congratulations to China.

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Photo Report

During China's National Day holiday, Rome, Italy, welcomed a large number of Chinese tourists. The photo shows Chinese tourists taking a group photo with the Colosseum at a viewing platform on October 4.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Jing

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“Injecting Talent Momentum into Cameroon’s Development”（共创繁荣发展新时代）

By: 本报记者 郑 翔

Recently, the first surveying training class of the "Seagull Talent Project" of CCCC First Highway Engineering Group Co., Ltd. held its graduation ceremony in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. During the 10-day training, 54 local trainees participated in courses including surveying theory, instrument operation, drone surveying, construction safety, and basic Chinese for engineering. The trainees said that this training precisely matched the actual needs of the local infrastructure sector, both filling gaps in their technical skills in engineering surveying and improving their cross-scenario Chinese communication abilities, gaining a great deal (收获颇多, shou huo po duo - "harvest, very, much").

"The intensive 10-day training was compact and efficient. For surveying work, a short-term intensive session is both a challenge and a motivation for us to focus and commit ourselves." Trainee Prince is an employee of CCCC First Highway Engineering Group. He said he hopes to take this training as a starting point and strive to grow into a qualified surveyor.

"This training gave me a completely new understanding of the surveying industry." Trainee Agombo is a student majoring in surveying at the National Advanced School of Public Works in Cameroon. He said the training gave him an in-depth understanding of the applicable scenarios of various surveying instruments: drones can conduct surveys in areas difficult for personnel to reach, while total stations can leverage their advantages in environments where satellite signals are absent... "I look forward to more young people like me benefiting from this."

Wu Jiashun, head of the Central Africa Regional Center of CCCC First Highway Engineering Group, introduced that this training is the first project implemented in Cameroon under the "Seagull Talent Project," which innovatively promotes a training system of "10% theoretical instruction, 20% expert guidance, and 70% on-site practice." After the training concludes, trainees will take a combined theoretical and practical assessment according to unified vocational skill standards, and those who pass can obtain a vocational skill certificate jointly certified by Cameroon's Ministry of Higher Education, CCCC First Highway Engineering Group, and the China Highway and Transportation Society. The group will also gradually carry out follow-up skill training for other job categories, continuously expanding the project's coverage.

Nken George Elambo, president of the National Advanced School of Public Works in Cameroon, said that the training class is an achievement of vocational education cooperation jointly carried out by schools, enterprises, and government, realizing the organic integration of institutional theoretical instruction and on-site engineering practice. "I hope the trainees will apply what they have learned to engineering practice and inject talent momentum into Cameroon's development."

"Chinese talent cultivation projects of this kind will effectively promote professional skill development in relevant fields in Cameroon, and are highly aligned with the local development direction of advancing vocational education and enhancing youth employability." Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of State for Higher Education of Cameroon, said that Chinese enterprises not only help Cameroon build infrastructure, but also support Cameroon in cultivating high-level engineering and technical talent, and Cameroon-China cooperation will help Cameroon gradually achieve technological autonomy in the field of infrastructure construction.

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Chengdu strengthens city-university cooperation to boost sci-tech innovation momentum (Getting off to a good start in the 15th Five-Year Plan period)

By: 本报记者 张 帆 王明峰 游 仪

In Chengdu, Sichuan, at the Tianfu Jincheng Laboratory. Under the cryo-electron microscope, the structural contours of biological macromolecules are showing every minute detail clearly (纤毫毕现, xian hao bi xian - "fiber, hair, clearly, appear").

"In the early years, doing this kind of cryo-electron microscopy experiment meant waiting in a long queue, taking samples to borrow instruments from other provinces." Shao Zhenhua, a scientist at the laboratory's cryo-electron microscopy platform, recalled that at the time equipment was scarce and time was tight, and a single business trip was often only enough to run a few sets of data.

Today, through university-local government cooperation and coordinated efforts — the Chengdu municipal government and Sichuan University have jointly built the Tianfu Jincheng Laboratory, conducting research in areas such as malignant tumors, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and metabolism. "The laboratory has built one of the largest, most advanced, and openly shared cryo-electron microscopy platforms in the central and western regions, greatly improving research efficiency," Shao Zhenhua said. "We will take the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important reply letter to all faculty and students of Sichuan University as our guide, leverage the advantages of interdisciplinary integration across the humanities, sciences, engineering, and medicine, and strive to take the lead and set an example in serving the national strategy of the new era."

In July this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, the Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, emphasizing the need to "enhance the capacity for systematic, organized scientific and technological innovation." In July 2023, during an inspection tour in Sichuan, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Sichuan should leverage its advantages of having numerous universities and research institutions, a concentration of innovative talent, a relatively complete industrial system, and a strong industrial foundation, and make simultaneous efforts in scientific and technological innovation and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements." The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to "comprehensively enhance independent innovation capacity, seize the commanding heights of scientific and technological development, and promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation."

Chengdu has 66 institutions of higher learning and 161 national-level scientific and technological innovation platforms, with abundant scientific and technological innovation resources. Thoroughly implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, the Chengdu municipal government has strengthened university-local government cooperation, smoothed the channels for transforming scientific and technological achievements, and enhanced the momentum of scientific and technological innovation.

Strengthening basic research and organized scientific research tackling —

In May this year, China's first quasi-axisymmetric stellarator achieved a research breakthrough, obtaining for the first time an ultra-high-precision quasi-axisymmetric magnetic field configuration. "This device helps enhance China's original innovation capacity in the field of controlled nuclear fusion," said Xu Yuhong, director of the Institute of Fusion Science at Southwest Jiaotong University.

In 2022, with the support of relevant departments of Sichuan Province, the Chengdu municipal government, and Sichuan Tianfu New Area, the quasi-axisymmetric stellarator project of Southwest Jiaotong University was officially established. The university and local government jointly set up a dedicated working group, breaking down traditional disciplinary barriers and administrative boundaries, achieving multidisciplinary crossover, multi-institutional collaboration, and full-chain linkage, promoting the close coupling of frontier exploration and engineering implementation.

In recent years, Chengdu has joined hands with universities such as Sichuan University to restructure 11 national key laboratories, jointly build four Tianfu Laboratories in different directions, undertake more than 800 national and provincial-level research projects, attract and gather more than 1,500 talented individuals, and, relying on the advantageous disciplinary fields of relevant universities, build 10 major scientific and technological infrastructure projects such as the cross-scale vector light field, achieving notable results in organized scientific research tackling.

Accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements —

Pan Siming, a graduate of Tsinghua University who once worked abroad, returned to China and came to Chengdu, where, with the support of the Tsinghua Sichuan Energy Internet Research Institute, he carried out the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. The company he founded, Sichuan Yichong Technology Co., Ltd., has grown into a science and technology innovation enterprise with considerable potential.

"Tsinghua University provides a top-tier team and cutting-edge technology, while the Chengdu Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and Sichuan Tianfu New Area provide policy support, funding guarantees, and application scenarios, jointly promoting the implementation of scientific and technological achievements," said Lü Lanchun, director of the Institute's Science and Technology Innovation Department.

In Chengdu's Pidu District, at the Southwest Jiaotong University Pidu Advanced Manufacturing Science and Technology Innovation Park, multiple enterprises are queuing up to move in. "What we value is the university-enterprise collaborative innovation ecosystem," said Zhang Jiawei, head of the resident enterprise Chengdu Chuli Technology Co., Ltd., noting that the precise matching of enterprises' urgent needs with innovation resources has improved product performance.

In recent years, Chengdu has focused on building a "career partner" model among universities, institutes, enterprises, and localities. "The government provides carriers and policies, universities and research institutes provide projects and talent, and enterprises provide needs and application scenarios, sharing the returns from the transformation of scientific and technological achievements," introduced Chen Xu, deputy director of the Chengdu Municipal Science and Technology Bureau. Chengdu has carried out cooperation with more than 50 universities and research institutes, jointly building 20 new-type research and development institutions for university-local government cooperation, accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

Driving high-quality development of the surrounding area —

Without batteries or wires, small intelligent temperature-sensing gaskets and nuts can work stably in extreme environments. Bu Shirong, founder of Zongjiguan (Chengdu) Technology Co., Ltd. and associate professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, said the product is powered by electromagnetic fields in the air and has been applied in fields such as power generation, power transmission and distribution, and transportation.

Zongjiguan Company was incubated by the UESTC Science and Technology Innovation Valley in Chengdu's Wenjiang District. Hao Qinwei, chairman of Chengdu UESTC Asset Management Co., Ltd., introduced that the UESTC Science and Technology Innovation Valley park is jointly built by the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Wenjiang District, focusing on the development of industries such as medical-engineering crossover and information and communication, gathering 365 key enterprises, and nurturing 14 specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises and 47 national high-tech enterprises.

Driven by industry, Chengdu is building concentrated carrying zones for "R&D + transformation + incubation." The municipal and district levels have joined hands with four national university science and technology parks, adopting a "one university, multiple campuses" approach to build 20 sub-parks, and promoting universities within the region to participate in building 55 incubators. At present, Chengdu has cumulatively promoted universities and research institutes to incubate more than 600 science and technology enterprises on site.

Chengdu is continuously promoting the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. In the next step, it will strengthen organized innovation, systematic matchmaking, and effective and efficient transformation, focus on clearing the bottlenecks connecting basic research, applied development, and the transformation of achievements, and accelerate the release of the real productive forces of scientific and technological achievements.

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A Photovoltaic Power Station Bears Witness to China-Colombia Green Cooperation

By: 本报记者 程是颉

In the early morning, sunlight fell across rows of photovoltaic panels as Colombian electrical engineer Jaime Montaño arrived at the solar power station to begin his day's work: checking inverter equipment, reviewing operating data, and troubleshooting equipment anomalies. Just over two years ago, he was still unfamiliar with photovoltaic power stations. Today, he is able to independently complete a range of operation and maintenance tasks. "My Chinese colleagues taught me a great deal," Montaño said.

Not long ago, the Palmira 3 photovoltaic power station, in whose construction and operation Montaño participated, was formally handed over. The station is located in the city of Palmira in Valle del Cauca Department in western Colombia, about 27 kilometers from Cali, the departmental capital. PowerChina Group Co., Ltd. undertook the station's design, equipment supply, construction, installation, and commissioning, making it the company's first completed photovoltaic power station project in Colombia. As of the final handover, the station had delivered a cumulative total of approximately 40 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity, equivalent to the electricity consumption of about 10,000 local households over two years, and had reduced carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 20,000 metric tons cumulatively.

In recent years, Colombia has actively promoted the transformation of its energy structure, and the development of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics has accelerated markedly. The construction and operation of the Palmira 3 photovoltaic power station has become a microcosm of Chinese and Colombian enterprises working together to advance (携手推进, xie shou tui jin - "hold hands, push forward") green development. Edwin Palma, former Minister of Mines and Energy of Colombia, stated that the energy transition is an important area of Colombia-China cooperation, and that green energy cooperation between the two countries is continuously extending from engineering construction into areas such as talent cultivation, operation and maintenance, and local supply chain development.

Following the approach of "prioritizing local recruitment, focusing on training, and growing together," the Palmira 3 photovoltaic power station project team actively brought in local management personnel, engineering and technical staff, and construction workers, and enabled local employees to accumulate experience through participation in the project's construction and operation by means of mentorship pairings, on-the-job training, and hands-on field practice. During the peak construction period, the project provided approximately 160 jobs, of which locally employed personnel accounted for more than 97 percent. The project directly helped more than 100 local households achieve stable employment and built up a pool of professional talent for subsequent projects.

Following the project handover, Chinese and Colombian employees will carry out two years of joint operation and maintenance. Chinese engineers will help Colombian staff gradually master photovoltaic power station operation and maintenance skills through on-site explanations, on-the-job training, and practical drills. The project team has cooperated with local enterprises, coordinating local engineering firms to participate in equipment installation and commissioning and helping Colombia accumulate experience in photovoltaic power station operation and maintenance. The project team has also connected with local logistics companies to improve coordination in the equipment transportation segment.

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Salute to Workers Who Remain at Their Posts

By: 张武军

During the National Day holiday, while people enjoy the joy of family reunions and travel across the beautiful landscapes of the country, countless workers remain steadfast at their posts, adding a distinctive luster to the festive season with their hard-earned sweat, and offering the most beautiful blessings to the motherland through their concrete actions.

They strive on the front lines of engineering construction. With tower cranes standing tall and machinery roaring, builders seize the golden period for construction, making the most of every second (争分夺秒, zheng fen duo miao - "struggle, minute, seize, second") and working extremely hard in the heat (挥汗如雨, hui han ru yu - "wave, sweat, like, rain"), turning blueprints into reality step by step. With practical work and a sense of responsibility, they press the "accelerator button" for major projects, carving the marks of endeavor across the land of the motherland.

They stand guard on the front lines of safety and security. Public security officers patrol the streets and alleys, safeguarding peace in their jurisdictions; scenic area staff meticulously inspect equipment, ensuring tourists enjoy a happy holiday; energy supply personnel remain on duty at the production front, guaranteeing lights in ten thousand households... Through their selfless dedication, they bring tranquility and harmony to the people.

They are busy on the front lines of livelihood services. Food delivery riders are occupied with delivering orders, cultural and tourism workers serve visitors from all directions with smiling faces, and sanitation workers meticulously "beautify" the urban environment... The silent dedication in ordinary posts makes the joy of the holiday even more comfortable and pleasant.

One by one, the figures standing firm at their posts are frozen in time as beautiful scenery of the holiday. It is precisely because workers set aside their own families for the sake of everyone that there is the peace of the festival, the smoothness of the journey, and the convenience of daily life. Salute to every worker who remains steadfast at their post!

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Standing Firm: A Beautiful Sight (New Era Panorama)

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Page editors: Zhang Wujun

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Heritage Sites Visible, Civilization Perceptible (Cultural China Tour · Humanities Observation)

The National Archaeological Site Parks are cultural landmarks that safeguard the roots of Chinese civilization and tell the story of China, and they are also important public spaces where the public can touch history and perceive civilization. Recently, the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of National Cultural Heritage Undertakings" clearly designated standardized management and quality and efficiency improvement as the direction for the development of site parks, proposing that by 2030 the number of National Archaeological Site Parks will increase from 65 to 70. This means that the construction of site parks is moving from scale expansion to a new stage of quality improvement.

This issue focuses on the construction and development of National Archaeological Site Parks, exploring how to do a good job of protection, inheritance, and utilization, so that the achievements of site protection benefit more of the people.

—Editor

Yangshao Village Site, Henan

Painted Pottery Carries the Cultural Lineage

People's Daily reporter Zhao Shuaijie

Leaving the county seat of Mianchi County, Sanmenxia, Henan, and driving about 6 kilometers north, beneath the rolling Shaoshan Mountains, the Yangshao Village National Archaeological Site Park stands quietly. The village is named after the mountains, and the park is built alongside the village. Village and park blend into each other, with the archaeological site embedded within, presenting a harmonious and natural landscape.

In October 1921, the first excavation of the Yangshao Village Site lifted the curtain on modern Chinese archaeology, and the Yangshao Culture, represented by the Yangshao Village Site, became the first archaeological culture in China. "In 2021, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Yangshao Culture, the Yangshao Village National Archaeological Site Park was officially completed and opened, linking the Yangshao Culture Museum, the excavation commemoration points, the cultural layer cross-sections, and other landscapes into a single route," said Zhao Yuhong, director of the Mianchi County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism.

Entering the park and walking along the pottery-colored paved path, on both sides of the road, low-growing Chinese junipers have been carefully pruned to outline classic painted pottery patterns such as petal patterns, grid patterns, and crescent patterns; restored semi-subterranean houses and pottery kilns recreate the scenes of the ancestors' production and daily life; various painted pottery sculptures attract visitors to take photos...

At the commemoration point of the first excavation of the Yangshao Village Site, a group of sculptures is lifelike and vivid (栩栩如生, xuxu rusheng - "life, life, like, like"): villagers holding iron shovels and bamboo baskets, heads down, digging for soil, while beside them, a geologist is carefully drawing, recording the excavation situation. "The commemoration point was determined according to the coordinate positions marked at the time, and the sculptures are also based on archival photographs as prototypes, recreating the scene of Andersson, Yuan Fuli, and others who presided over and participated in the on-site excavation 105 years ago," Zhao Yuhong said.

The Yangshao Village Site has undergone a total of four excavations. The scene sculptures at the first three commemoration points are all based on historical materials, with the participants and unearthed artifacts of each excavation as the main subjects—one style per location, one character per point. "Walking through the park, a new scene at every step (一步一景, yibu yijing - "one, step, one, scene"), the Yangshao Culture is within reach. It truly is 'one place, six thousand years; one glance, a hundred generations,'" marveled Li Li, a visitor from Xi'an, Shaanxi.

"The most recent archaeological excavation lasted from August 2020 to the end of 2021." Li Shiwei, director of the Civilization Origins Research Center of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and on-site director of the fourth archaeological excavation of the Yangshao Village Site, introduced that this excavation newly discovered 4 traces of artificial trenches, 1 large building foundation site, as well as jade yue axes, jade rings, and ivory artifacts, providing important historical references for the study of the ancestors' settlement patterns, social organization, and level of civilization.

In 2024, the research team successfully completed the facial reconstruction of the "Yangshao people" and "Longshan people." "In cooperation with universities and public security departments, we have also successively completed DNA extraction and sequencing of 8 human bone remains. The research results show that the populations related to the Yangshao Culture and the Longshan Culture at the Yangshao Village Site have a high degree of genetic continuity, and made important genetic contributions to the formation of the Chinese nation," Li Shiwei said.

Viewed from a distance, the Yangshao Village Site follows the contours of the mountain, standing on a "fish-back"-shaped earthen platform that is high in the middle and low on both sides. Today, strolling through the park, one can see well-preserved cultural layer cross-sections from time to time, and visitors can directly experience the cultural layers of different periods and various traces and remains.

"Look! The soil colors are different, and so are the cultural layers." Pointing at a cross-section, Fang Fengzhang, director of the Yangshao Village National Archaeological Site Park Management Center and curator of the Yangshao Culture Museum, counted carefully with his fingers, "The very bottom is sterile soil; going up in order are the Yangshao period cultural layer and the Longshan period cultural layer; the highest is the cultivated soil layer—four layers stacked in total." Then, changing his tone, he said, "The protection of earthen sites is a worldwide challenge, facing multiple threats such as natural weathering and man-made damage."

"In response, during construction we tried to maintain the original terrain as much as possible, avoided large-scale demolition and construction, and set up fences in front of the cross-sections; over the years, we have also planted winter jasmine with well-developed root systems and drooping branches and leaves, putting 'biological armor' on the earthen site to slow down wind erosion and rainwater scouring," Fang Fengzhang said. Next, they will also advance the construction of a smart management and protection system, carrying out dynamic monitoring of the temperature, humidity, and slope stability of the cultural layers to achieve preventive protection.

At the northern end of the site park, a magnificent terracotta-colored building rises from the ground—the Yangshao Culture Museum has arrived. Entering the museum, more than 800 artifacts and over a thousand images tell of the long and splendid Yangshao Culture. What amazes visitors most is the dome-screen cinema. Standing inside, surrounded by stereo sound, scenes of the ancestors farming, working, and firing painted pottery more than 6,000 years ago leap before one's eyes.

"The dome-screen cinema launched this year is an important part of the museum's digital exhibition system. Together with digital exhibition projects such as naked-eye 3D, holographic projection, aerial imaging, and VR (virtual reality) scene reproduction, it creates an immersive visiting experience, breaks the limitations of traditional static display of cultural relics, and makes the Yangshao Culture more visible and tangible," Fang Fengzhang said.

In the cultural and creative products store adjacent to the museum, various pottery, tea sets, brooches, canvas bags, and refrigerator magnets are much loved. "We visited large, medium, and small museums, collected painted pottery materials from sites such as Yangshao Village, Banpo in Xi'an, and Majiayao in Gansu, reproduced them at 1:1 scale for centralized display, and developed more than a hundred cultural and creative products based on the pottery and decorative patterns as prototypes. Last year, total revenue exceeded 6 million yuan," introduced Wang Xinjun, the person in charge of the cultural and creative products store.

"The small-mouthed, pointed-bottom bottle is one of the most representative pottery containers of the Yangshao Culture. Some pieces exceed 1 meter in length, are only about 5 millimeters thick, and weigh less than 6 jin, fully reflecting the ancestors' superb craftsmanship and wisdom." Liu Xin'an, a representative inheritor of the Yangshao painted pottery making technique, a Sanmenxia municipal-level intangible cultural heritage project, has been deeply engaged in painted pottery making for nearly 40 years. Recently, he has been studying how to reproduce the ancestors' vessels using wood-firing methods, "In the future, I will set up a study camp to pass on the excellent traditional culture."

Data show that in the past 3 years, the site park has received an average of more than 300,000 visitors per year. "With the development of site tourism, villagers have opened guesthouses and farmhouse restaurants, driving the village collective economic income up by more than 15%. Many villagers have taken up the 'ecological bowl' and eaten the 'tourism meal,' achieving employment nearby and at home," said Zhang Yongfeng, secretary of the Yangshao Village Party branch.

Panlongcheng Site, Hubei

The Shang City Shines over the Southern Land

People's Daily reporter Wu Jun

In early autumn, entering the Panlongcheng National Archaeological Site Park in Wuhan, Hubei Province, one sees lush grass and winding paths leading to secluded spots. Walking along the meandering ecological trail and crossing several flights of steps, one arrives at the core area of the Panlongcheng city wall site.

"Unlike many museums, many of the cultural relics and remains at the Panlongcheng Site are displayed in the open air, allowing visitors to touch history more directly," said Qiu Chenhui, a docent at the Wuhan Panlongcheng Site Museum, as she walked and introduced. This ancient city, more than 3,500 years old, was the political and military center city of the early Shang Dynasty in the south.

The discovery of the Wuhan Panlongcheng Site came about by accident. In 1954, Wuhan was hit by a catastrophic flood. The flood washed out pottery shards buried at the site, which were discovered by Lan Wei, secretary of the Wuhan Municipal Cultural Relics Management Committee, and his colleague You Shaoqi. In this way, this ancient city buried for a thousand years saw the light of day again.

"Since then, archaeological experts from the Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Archaeological Work Team, Peking University, Wuhan University, and others have carried on in-depth work for more than 70 years, successively excavating more than 3,000 cultural relics including bronzes, jades, and pottery at the site, lighting up a key coordinate for exploring the early civilization of the Yangtze River basin," Qiu Chenhui introduced.

Entering the core area of the Panlongcheng city wall site, the outline of the rammed-earth city wall is clearly discernible among the vegetation, and the overlapping soil layers are like an open history book. Within the city wall, the foundations of 3 palace buildings are distributed in a staggered layout, and the traces of the palace pillar holes and rammed-earth platforms are clearly identifiable. "After the archaeological excavation, the palace sites all adopted the method of backfilling and protection in situ, allowing the palaces to preserve their original form more authentically and present a sense of historical vicissitude," Qiu Chenhui said.

Because of the abundant rainfall in the south, coupled with the underdevelopment of restoration techniques and materials at the time, the palaces restored in earlier years were gradually eroded. "Once, after a heavy rainstorm, the restored walls in the palace area were basically washed away, and the foundations also collapsed," admitted Liao Hang, director of the Panlongcheng Site Protection and Research Department.

Panlongcheng is an open-air site. To understand its thousand-year cultural lineage, one must experience it up close, and open-air display is the best choice. In order to contend with sunlight, wind, and rain and solve the problem of balancing the protection and display of earthen sites, experts developed a glass-fiber-reinforced soil-improving material with excellent corrosion resistance and weather resistance.

"According to the archaeological data, we used 3D printing technology to accurately restore the building skeleton, then invited intangible cultural heritage inheritors to build the walls using clay sculpture techniques, organically integrating the palace's construction techniques with its historical appearance, ultimately displaying construction process details of the No. 1 palace such as timber-framed mud walls and rammed-earth construction," Liao Hang said. The "mud walls" and "wooden columns" cast from the new material are faithful in both form and spirit—looking mottled and worn, full of the vicissitudes of time, yet in fact sturdy and durable.

Not far from the palace site is the Lijiazui tomb display area of the Panlongcheng Site. Through the protective glass, the traces of the outer and inner coffins and the burial goods in Tomb No. 2 are clearly visible. "The layout inside basically preserves the original state at the time of excavation," Liao Hang admitted. The tombs here are lower than the surrounding ground level, and during the rainy season rainwater easily accumulates and flows back in. "If drainage is not done well, the tomb itself will be submerged; but if the drainage facilities are directly exposed, they will damage the historical appearance and display effect of the site."

In order to balance cultural relic protection with the visiting experience, the restoration team has always adhered to the principle of "minimal intervention." "Before construction, we pre-buried the drainage pipes at the bottom of the tomb, achieving the 'invisibility' of the drainage facilities from the source," Liao Hang introduced. In addition to the hidden underground drainage, the glass display enclosure is also equipped with intelligent dehumidification equipment that can efficiently discharge the accumulated moisture inside the tomb chamber in just 15 minutes of operation, forming a dual protection system of "underground drainage + above-ground dehumidification," which not only avoids the interference of exposed facilities with the historical appearance but also creates a stable and suitable preservation environment for the tomb itself.

Examining the tomb closely, a unique phenomenon invites reflection: some burial goods are intact as new, while others are badly damaged. "This is not natural damage, but a special burial custom of the Shang and Zhou periods—'broken vessel burial,' that is, deliberately breaking bronzes, jades, and other burial goods before burying them," Liao Hang introduced. In order to faithfully reproduce this historical scene, the restoration team deliberately preserved the damaged state of the artifacts. This restoration method that respects original information is called the "combined restoration method."

So how does one accurately distinguish whether artifacts were deliberately broken by humans at the time of burial, or damaged by natural factors such as geological movement and soil corrosion after burial? Liao Hang explained that archaeologists make judgments through multi-dimensional analysis. If the fracture edges of the fragments are sharp and can be tightly pieced together, they were mostly deliberately broken by humans at the time of burial; if the fracture edges are rounded and blunt, with calcareous nodules or rust layers on the surface, and the fragments are scattered in disorder and cannot be completely reassembled, they are more likely the result of external pressure or chemical erosion during long-term burial.

In the restoration process of the Panlongcheng Site, some appearances are difficult to restore through physical objects, so the protection team innovatively introduced cutting-edge technologies such as digital modeling and 3D reconstruction, creating the "Digital Panlongcheng" immersive experience project.

On New Year's Day 2019, the Panlongcheng Site Museum was officially completed and opened, building a new platform for the protection and display of movable cultural relics.

"Based on the site's own characteristics, we have divided the museum into three major exhibition areas—'Waves Washing Through the Ages,' 'Scenery of the Ancient City,' and 'Standing Proud in the Southern Land'—systematically presenting the archaeological history and historical context of Panlongcheng, as well as its core position during the Xia and Shang periods and its profound influence on later civilizations," Liao Hang introduced. The museum has also carefully designed diverse experience carriers such as cultural and creative dolls, fun games, and interactive installations, allowing visitors to decipher the historical codes of the cultural relics through immersive participation.

Today, on weekends and holidays, the Panlongcheng Site Park and Museum welcome visitors in an endless stream (络绎不绝, luodi bu jue - "continuous, not, cease"). During the summer vacation, batches of "little docents" took up their posts here, telling the story of this ancient city to visitors with young but firm voices. The main city event for Cultural and Natural Heritage Day in 2026 was also held here, further raising society's attention to the Panlongcheng Site.

Bijia Mountain Chaozhou Kiln Site, Guangdong

Kiln Fire Illuminates Past and Present

People's Daily reporter Li Zong

"Chaozhou is a nationally renowned historical and cultural city. Its unique geographical location and abundant natural resources gave birth to a splendid ancient civilization. As an important carrier of Chaozhou's ceramic culture, the Bijia Mountain Chaozhou Kiln Site bears witness to the prosperity and development of the ancient Chaozhou ceramics industry." At an archaeology class held at the Guangdong Bijia Mountain Chaozhou Kiln Site, Zheng Peina, head of the Archaeological Survey Department of the Chaozhou Museum (Chaozhou Yue-Dong Archaeology Center), was introducing the site to a study group from Sun Yat-sen University.

The Bijia Mountain Chaozhou Kiln Site is located on the east bank of the Han River in Chaozhou, Guangdong, at the western foot of Bijia Mountain, stretching 2 kilometers from Hutou Mountain in the north to Yinzi Mountain in the south. It is the largest and relatively best-preserved Song Dynasty kiln site discovered in Guangdong Province, and in 2001 it was announced by the State Council as a nationally key cultural relic protection unit. The kiln site flourished during the Northern Song Dynasty and was once an important production base on the Maritime Silk Road of the Song Dynasty. Its produced qingbai (bluish-white) porcelain was sold far to the Korean Peninsula, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other places. It was a kiln site that fired porcelain on a large scale during the Northern Song Dynasty and was hailed as the "Capital of Guangdong Song Dynasty Ceramics."

Picking up tools such as hand trowels and scraping trowels, and putting on sun hats and gloves, Zheng Peina came to the archaeological excavation project site. "Since the 1950s, provincial and municipal cultural relic departments have jointly cleaned and excavated 13 dragon kilns, with fruitful results. In recent years, the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Chaozhou Yue-Dong Archaeology Center have carried out archaeological work for many consecutive years, achieving important breakthroughs one after another," Zheng Peina said.

From 2016 to 2018, provincial and municipal archaeological and cultural relic departments conducted two archaeological surveys and explorations of the river beach area on the east bank of the Han River at the Bijia Mountain Chaozhou Kiln Site; in 2020, during an archaeological survey around Kiln No. 10, clues to kiln furnaces, building foundations, and important porcelain artifacts were discovered; in 2022, one section of dragon kiln remains was discovered, making the complete Kiln No. 10 nearly 100 meters long, the longest Song Dynasty dragon kiln found in Guangdong Province; in 2023, 6 building remains were discovered, judged to be remains related to kiln workshops, making up for the deficiency in the archaeological work at the Bijia Mountain Chaozhou Kiln Site over the past decades regarding Song Dynasty building remains; in 2024, Kiln No. 12 was excavated and revealed, and for the first time auxiliary facilities with clear functions such as glaze pits were discovered, enriching the types of remains at the Bijia Mountain Chaozhou Kiln Site.

These achievements were not easy to come by (来之不易, laizhi buyi - "come, this, not, easy"). "Field archaeology is work that tests mental strength, physical strength, and endurance. One must adapt to working postures such as long periods of walking, climbing, and squatting, and sometimes one needs to lie low, kneel, or lie prone on the excavation surface to carry out meticulous work such as scraping surfaces, finding edges, and cleaning. During the excavation process, one must strictly follow the field archaeology work procedures, carefully record every trace phenomenon discovered, and use scientific methods such as stratigraphy, typology, and chronology to conduct meticulous observation and analysis of the unearthed artifacts and remains. Faced with severely disturbed and complexly accumulated cultural layers, there are often some difficult-to-identify trace phenomena that require rigorous thinking and careful cleaning to resolve," said Xi Yue, a staff member of the Archaeological Survey Department.

"These new breakthroughs in archaeological excavation are precious materials for studying the development and evolution of kiln technology at the Chaozhou Bijia Mountain Kiln and for restoring the historical appearance of the Bijia Mountain Kiln industry system, and they are also an important basis for carrying out protection work," said Yu Xiaojie, curator of the Chaozhou Museum.

Archaeological achievements should not be locked away in storerooms. How can the public get closer to archaeology and understand history?

"We make full use of the existing conditions of the site and carry out activation and utilization in the form of 'excavating while protecting, building while displaying.' We hold public archaeology study camps such as 'Exploring the Dragon Kiln through Archaeology' to let young people personally experience the archaeological site; and we cooperate with schools and cultural venues in all counties and districts of Chaozhou to bring archaeology into campuses, communities, and venues," Yu Xiaojie said.

To improve the display conditions of the site, the Chaozhou Yue-Dong Archaeology Center has built the "Tang Style and Song Charm, Crossing a Thousand Years—Exhibition of Ancient Ceramics from the Chaozhou Kiln" as a window for daily industry exchange, learning, and publicity and education activities at the site. The exhibition is divided into three units—"A Thousand Years of Kiln Fire," "A Village of a Hundred Kilns," and "Sailing Ten Thousand Miles"—telling the long history, grand scale, and the flourishing export of porcelain along the Maritime Silk Road of the Chaozhou Kiln, combined with the archaeological site itself, highlighting Chaozhou's profound cultural heritage.

The most representative themed activity, "Exploring the Dragon Kiln through Archaeology," combines on-site visits, explanatory science popularization, and archaeological simulation experiences, giving the public the opportunity to enter the field archaeology site, get close to cultural relics, and touch history.

In the "Exploring the Dragon Kiln through Archaeology" study activity for primary and secondary school students in Chaozhou, Zheng Junxia, a staff member of the Archaeological Survey Department, demonstrated on site the fine operations of "scraping the surface with a hand trowel and cleaning the soil with a brush," revealing the historical information buried in the strata. The students gathered around, listening to the stories behind the newly discovered building foundations and the unearthed qingbai-glazed porcelain and sauce-glazed porcelain figurines, learning how archaeology, like putting together a puzzle, gradually restores the remains and artifacts into vivid evidence of ancient Chaozhou's participation in global trade.

In the session on experiencing the archaeological sorting and research process, cultural relic restorer Zhang Hao used the restoration of artifacts unearthed from the Bijia Mountain Kiln as a demonstration, explaining in detail the restoration process of Song Dynasty porcelain, demonstrating core procedures such as cleaning, piecing together, supplementing, and fine polishing, and revealing the application of restoration techniques such as mold making and plaster mixing.

"In addition, we also have some fun activities to increase the children's interest," Zheng Peina said. For example, in the "Kiln Workers Search for Porcelain Shards" task, each group receives a task card, lines up and sets off in an orderly manner to the archaeological backfill area, carefully collects surface porcelain shard specimens with tools, and cooperates to complete shard classification, pattern recording, and dating inference; "Kiln Fire Transmits the Code" is carried out in the form of a relay quiz, with questions covering many aspects such as the technical evolution of the Chaozhou Kiln, identification of typical vessels, export porcelain shipping routes, and local folk legends. The challenge session incorporates fun competition, and winning groups can receive customized "Little Archaeologist" commemorative badges, allowing children to deepen teamwork and cultural awareness through games.

"Through these study activities, I truly felt the profound and unique charm of Chaozhou's thousand-year cultural lineage at the Bijia Mountain Chaozhou Kiln Site, and I also better understand and support archaeological work," said Chen Muxi, a student from Chaozhou Experimental School.

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Museums: Nourishing the Spiritual Home Through Innovation (Cultural Salon)

By: 王 珏

Every holiday, long lines form in front of museums, tickets sell out in seconds, and crowds of people flowing in and out (人流如织, ren liu ru zhi - "people, flow, like, weaving") fill the exhibition halls. The continued heating up of the "museum craze" highlights the public's increasingly vigorous cultural demand and also places higher requirements on public cultural services.

"A museum is a great school." When visiting museums becomes a way of life, museums must uphold fundamental principles and break new ground in improving management, optimizing services, and expanding boundaries.

Management innovation is an important lever for optimizing resource allocation and solving the difficulties of exhibition viewing. As culture and museums enter public life, museum operations and management models must adapt to the vigorous demand for visits. Take the museum reservation system as an example: the original purpose of establishing this system was to achieve orderly diversion of visitor flow and better safeguard the public's visiting experience. But in actual operation, rigid models such as releasing tickets in fixed time slots and static ticket allocation, compounded by the interference of ticket-scalping "scalpers," have led to tickets being extremely hard to obtain (一票难求, yi piao nan qiu - "one, ticket, difficult, seek") at some popular museums.

The key to resolving the reservation problem lies in implementing refined management so that the allocation of public resources is fairer and more human-centered. The Inner Mongolia Museum has adopted dynamic ticket release, with quotas vacated by departing visitors released in real time, and priority given to reserving opportunities for nearby visitors. Many museums have optimized their reservation systems, promoting dynamic ticket release and real-time ticket reissuance to activate idle reservation quotas and improve resource utilization efficiency; at the same time, relying on the culture-tourism linkage system, popular museums drive the development of medium- and small-sized distinctive venues and niche thematic venues, and through joint tickets, touring exhibition exchanges, and resource sharing, scientifically divert visitor flow among venues. In addition, cultural and museum institutions need to coordinate with law enforcement departments to severely crack down on ticket-scalping by "scalpers" and safeguard normal ticketing order and the legitimate rights and interests of visitors.

Service innovation is an important path for enriching experience scenarios and deepening cultural value. At present, the public visiting museums is no longer satisfied with making a superficial visit without depth (走马观花, zou ma guan hua - "walk, horse, observe, flower") of shallow viewing, but rather pursues immersive and interactive cultural experiences. Currently, many venues have adopted measures such as launching special exhibitions, extending opening hours, optimizing visiting routes, and increasing basic guided tours. For example, under the theme "Ten Vessels Illuminating a Thousand Years," the Beijing Yanqing Museum has created a 24-hour museum special exhibition, allowing visitors to view the exhibition at any time of day.

It is necessary not only to "absorb" the visitor flow but also to "retain" people's hearts. Museums can break out of the single exhibition-display mindset, promote the deep integration of culture and museums with education, culture and tourism, and science popularization, and create distinctive thematic exhibitions, public science-popularization activities, and traditional culture lectures based on collection characteristics; based on the needs of all age groups, develop tiered customized study courses, thematic cultural salons, and cultural relic interactive experience projects, so that cultural relic stories can be seen, felt, and experienced; focus on the needs of special groups, improve accessible facilities, warm guidance services, and convenient visiting support, demonstrating the warmth of public cultural services.

Digital innovation is an important engine for expanding communication boundaries and sustaining the heat of culture and museums. Cloud exhibition halls, digital cultural relics, and online livestreams have broken the temporal and spatial limits of exhibition viewing and amplified the communication effectiveness of culture and museums. High-quality projects represented by Digital Dunhuang, through panoramic reproduction, detailed analysis, and cloud sharing, have allowed a thousand years of cultural lineage to cross mountains and seas, providing an excellent model for the digital development of culture and museums. To promote the quality and efficiency of digital culture and museums, it is necessary to abandon the extensive construction model of "emphasizing form over content," deepen content creation, innovate interactive models, and dig deep into cultural connotations; rely on new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality to create high-quality content such as immersive digital exhibitions, dynamic interpretation of cultural relics, and restoration of historical scenes; build a systematic digital cultural relic database, improve the online science-popularization system, innovate a youthful communication style, and construct a comprehensive cultural and museum communication pattern of "in-depth offline experience, sustained online communication."

Promoting the high-quality development of museums requires long-term top-level design, placing museum operations and services within the overall planning of urban renewal and culture-tourism integration; it also requires meticulous detail innovation, responding sincerely to the public's enthusiasm with friendly services and thoughtful activities. Only by continuously innovating supply and optimizing services can this precious cultural heat continue to warm our spiritual homeland.

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Page editors: Wang Jue

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Research and Science Popularization Join Hands Here (Perspective)

By: 本报记者 杨文明

With the rise of new business forms such as study tours, the germplasm resource nurseries of research institutes have become lively: cut a slice of rubber tree bark and watch the latex slowly flow out; make a mushroom cultivation bag and take it home to continue cultivating; walk into the laboratory and complete thin-layer chromatography with your own hands. Plant science popularization has inherent shortcomings, yet Yunnan has turned "invisible scientific research" into "touchable experiences." How do research institutes build science popularization venues, and how do they hold the scientific research red line while opening up? Our reporter went deep into the front lines of Yunnan for investigation and interviews.

—Editor

Science Popularization, Another Responsibility of Scientific Research Units

Thirty years ago, only researchers could be seen at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Flower Garden; today, tourists "forage" in the garden and children search for mushrooms under the forest canopy.

The confidence to open to the public comes from more than 70 years of scientific research accumulation. More than a thousand plant species and over ten thousand tropical crop germplasm resources make the nursery of the Yunnan Provincial Institute of Tropical Crops a tropical rainforest museum.

"The original target of science popularization was actually farmers. In order to promote new tropical crops, we would invite farmers from suitable planting areas to come for on-site demonstrations." When our reporter asked Mu Hongjun, Party Secretary and Director of the Yunnan Provincial Institute of Tropical Crops, how he views science popularization, he said, "Scientific research is the responsibility of scientific research units, and science popularization is equally the responsibility of scientific research units. Only by letting people see that rubber can be grown well and fruit can be sold for money can we better transform scientific research achievements into industries in the fields."

"With the rise of new business forms such as study tours, as well as the increased demand for improving the scientific literacy of the whole society, science popularization has gained more important value." Mu Hongjun stated that opening part of the germplasm resource nurseries to the public helps reduce the management and maintenance pressure on the nurseries, and can also drive surrounding residents to become prosperous and improve the scientific literacy of the whole society.

Opportunities for science popularization are often hidden in tourists' questions. Wang Hui, Deputy General Manager of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Flower Garden Scenic Area Operation Management Co., Ltd., has received several tourist complaint calls saying that someone was using a knife to cut the trunk of a jackfruit tree. "This is actually a necessary measure to promote jackfruit fruiting, and we took the opportunity to popularize relevant knowledge to the public." Wang Hui said, "Science popularization can stimulate the public's love for the objects of scientific research."

However, making the public truly fall in love with plants is not easy. Yang Mei, Deputy Director of the Office of the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated that especially in fields such as phytochemistry, the public cannot even see the objects of science popularization, which poses a challenge to transforming scientific research achievements into science popularization stories.

In December 2024, the newly revised Law of the People's Republic of China on the Popularization of Science and Technology clearly stipulates that September each year is "National Science Popularization Month," promoting the reach of scientific knowledge and the scientific spirit to more social groups. The Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has gradually formed a communication pattern coordinated by the office, with the participation of scientific research departments, support departments, and others: organizing Public Science Day and laboratory experiences to invite the public into scientific research sites; delivering plant science to the grassroots through cooperation with schools, teacher training, and community activities; expanding the scope of communication through science popularization articles, media reports, and online livestreams; and at the same time organizing research results into government information services to support public decision-making.

From "Superficial Inspection" to "Hands-on Experience"

"We are more about 'welcoming hands-on participation' within a certain safe range." Wang Hui said. In Wang Hui's view, science popularization venues must strengthen their internal capabilities to improve the effectiveness of science popularization.

At nightfall, when the scenic area stops ticket checking, the Xishuangbanna Tropical Flower Garden is still crowded with groups of children. Wang Hui told reporters that with the successive launch of various experience programs such as mushroom picking, "foraging," and night tours this year, the flower garden's revenue in one quarter this year has already exceeded its total revenue for the whole of last year.

In fact, the flower garden's path of science popularization has not been smooth sailing without any obstacles (一帆风顺, yi fan feng shun - "one, sail, wind, smooth"); at the beginning of its transformation, it was also mired in the development dilemma of "professional but not interesting enough"—most visitors were sightseeing groups, with almost no study tour visitors, taking a superficial inspection or sightseeing without depth (走马观花, zou ma guan hua - "walk, horse, observe, flower") and snapping photos. Although the research institute gained an additional source of income for maintaining the park, it was difficult to achieve the goal of science popularization.

Wang Hui believes that scientific research institutions building science popularization venues cannot engage in wishful thinking or acting solely on one's own desires (一厢情愿, yi xiang qing yuan - "one, side, wish, desire"); they must fully consider market demand while also fully tapping into the scientific research achievements of the research institute itself and exploring transformation pathways.

"Since it is science popularization, first of all, the public must find it fun. For the Xishuangbanna Tropical Flower Garden, on the one hand, we create good landscapes and gain popularity through photos; on the other hand, we also need to productize science popularization to enhance the experience of study tour participants." Wang Hui said.

When a staff member gently makes a cut, children can experience rubber tapping and can also take the latex away. The docent then asks questions on the spot, guiding children to answer what rubber is used for.

Tourists generally love eating mushrooms and searching for mushrooms, so the flower garden launched the "Mushroom General Mobilization" accordingly. Participants enter the hands-on space, use microscopes to observe the microscopic morphology of fungal spores, make their own exclusive mushroom cultivation bags and take them home for continued cultivation; they go deep into the understory of the primary rainforest to search for and identify mushrooms on site, distinguishing morphological features such as caps and gills, clarifying the three survival modes of fungi—symbiosis, parasitism, and saprophytism—and mastering practical skills such as identifying poisonous mushrooms and emergency response to accidental ingestion.

On Public Science Day, participants enter the national key laboratory and observe the extraction process of plant essential oils and condensates. Yang Mei said: "From observing phenomena, to hands-on experience, to understanding principles, the public can more intuitively feel the charm of scientific research. The science popularization targets of today may well grow into the scientific research force of the future."

Science Popularization That Does Not Cross Boundaries, Violate Rules, or Disturb Scientific Research

How can the value of science popularization be released while protecting precious germplasm resources and not interfering with the normal process of scientific research?

In the tropical fruit germplasm resource nursery of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Flower Garden, many mango trees undertake long-term scientific research observation tasks and are important samples for germplasm research and variety improvement. In the design of study tour routes, the flower garden proactively bypasses all core scientific research observation fruit tree areas, avoiding human interference from the source.

Mu Hongjun introduced that from the initial planning of the park, the institute established the approach of zoned development and classified management: plant resources with strong ornamental value and suitable for display are included in the flower garden's opening to the public; core areas used for germplasm breeding and variety trials are designated as non-open areas under closed management.

On the basis of spatial zoning, the park simultaneously implements refined, classified management. For dangerous plants such as the upas tree, conspicuous safety warning signs are set up, and touching and picking are strictly prohibited. All activities open to the public always remain subordinate to the overall goal of germplasm resource protection, ensuring that science popularization does not cross boundaries, opening does not violate rules, and experiences do not disturb scientific research.

The Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have likewise made appropriate separation between open areas and scientific research areas, exploring a balance in the spatial boundary between scientific research and science popularization.

The Kunming Institute of Botany adopts a small-scale reservation system for Public Science Day to avoid excessive visitor numbers affecting scientific research projects. Through "going out," the Kunming Institute of Botany brings science popularization into schools and communities, reaching a broader audience with a lower threshold for participation.

In terms of science popularization content, the Xishuangbanna Tropical Flower Garden has established a mechanism of "researchers providing bottom-line review and the operations team implementing execution," whereby all study tour courses, docent scripts, and interactive processes are reviewed and verified item by item by researchers, upholding the professionalism and rigor of science popularization content.

"Small-batch, highly interactive offline activities are conducive to the public truly understanding scientific content; online livestreams, science popularization articles, and media reports can further expand coverage." Yang Mei suggested that science communication should be built as a long-term capability of research institutes, and science popularization activities should be carried out in light of local conditions based on one's own resource characteristics.

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A Musical Miracle from Over 2,400 Years Ago (Treasure of the Museum)

Stepping into the Marquis Yi of Zeng exhibition hall at the Hubei Provincial Museum, a magnificent set of bronze chime bells is displayed there. The museum's logo adopts the shape of the Marquis Yi of Zeng chime bells, showcasing the having a long and continuous history (源远流长, yuan yuan liu chang - "source, far, flow, long") of ritual and music civilization and the continuing without interruption (绵延不绝, mian yan bu jue - "stretch, extend, not, cease") of Jing-Chu culture.

Reporter: Among the many national treasures in the collection, why was the Marquis Yi of Zeng chime bells chosen as the prototype for the Hubei Provincial Museum's logo?

Zhang Xiaoyun: The Marquis Yi of Zeng chime bells (see photo, taken by Ren Yong) were unearthed in 1978 from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Sui County, Hubei. This set of chime bells is the largest and best-preserved set of chime bells ever discovered, recording the musical practice and music theory of ancient China more than 2,400 years ago. In November 1988, to summarize the research results on the Marquis Yi of Zeng chime bells, promote Chinese culture, and facilitate cultural exchange between China and foreign countries, the Hubei Provincial Association for International Cultural Exchange, the Hubei Provincial Museum, and the Wuhan Conservatory of Music jointly held the international academic conference "International Exchange on Ancient Chinese Science and Culture · Special Topic on the Marquis Yi of Zeng Chime Bells." More than 60 experts and scholars from home and abroad participated, contributing rich academic results to the scholarly community. The Hubei Provincial Museum's logo is taken from the emblem of this conference, designed by Fu Zhongwang, a sculptor working at the museum at the time, with the meaning "the chime bells shocked the whole world," and has been in use ever since.

Reporter: In terms of casting craftsmanship, vessel shape, inscriptions, and other aspects, what characteristics and achievements do the Marquis Yi of Zeng chime bells have?

Zhang Xiaoyun: The Marquis Yi of Zeng chime bells and the large number of musical pitch inscriptions confirm that in 5th-century BC China, the "one bell, two tones" manufacturing technique had already reached a state of perfection or consummate skill (炉火纯青, lu huo chun qing - "furnace, fire, pure, blue"). The musical range of the bells cast with this technique exceeds five octaves, and the middle portions of the high, middle, and low registers have complete chromatic scales, capable of modal transposition and modulation, with good musical expressive performance. The chime bells display the most complete Zhou dynasty musical tone series and its musical pitch nomenclature system known to date, not only confirming the authenticity of certain records in pre-Qin documents but also supplementing a large amount of lost musical knowledge and practice. The bell bodies are decorated with human, animal, dragon, bird, floral, and geometric patterns. The fine, apt, vivid, and ornate bell body decorations complement each other to create interest (相映成趣, xiang ying cheng qu - "mutually, reflect, become, interest") with the aesthetically pleasing and decorative inscriptions, with rigorous composition and fluent brushwork. The chime bells and the bronze vessels from the same tomb show that as early as more than 2,400 years ago, China had already invented the red copper inlay casting method, with breakthroughs in both combined whole-casting and piece-mold casting techniques, placing its metallurgy and bronze casting craftsmanship at the world's leading level of the time.

Reporter: Last year, the Marquis Yi of Zeng chime bells were inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. What important significance and value does this set of chime bells have in the history of world music?

Zhang Xiaoyun: The inscriptions on the chime bells are the earliest known official Chinese music theory documents from the pre-Qin period, providing a large amount of previously unknown pitch definitions and terminology. Many terms come from the Zeng state, the Chu state, and the Zhou dynasty, and are the result of cultural exchange among the feudal states of the time. Terms in the inscriptions such as "zhuo gu xian," "lü zhong," "zhuo ping huang," and "ping huang" indicate that a system of twelve pitches already existed at the time, and this system was precisely generated from the third intervals in the "one bell, two tones." The pitch design is based on the pentatonic scale and also has a heptatonic system, reflecting rich musical content and an advanced level of musical achievement. The correspondence between the musical tones of the chime bells and the inscriptions is the earliest extant excavated document demonstrating the mathematical relationships of music, and this correspondence shows that people at the time had already formed a rational understanding of the relationships between musical tones. Unlike the earlier Western Zhou bronze bell inscriptions, which mostly eulogized the merits and virtues of aristocratic ancestors, the inscriptions on the Marquis Yi of Zeng chime bells, with a few exceptions such as records and numbering, focus almost entirely on musical themes — the name of each bell's tone, its position in different keys, and interval relationships. This uniqueness allows us to recognize that this set of chime bells is not only an ancient musical instrument but also a cultural heritage of important historical significance.

Reporter: How was such a major ritual and music vessel discovered and brought into the museum's collection back then?

Zhang Xiaoyun: In September 1977, when a unit of the Wuhan Military Region was expanding a factory on the outskirts of Sui County, Hubei, it accidentally discovered a huge vertical pit tomb with a wooden chamber in a rock pit. With approval reported to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, formal excavation began on May 11 of the following year. The central chamber mainly displayed ritual and music instruments, yielding a complete set of 65 bronze chime bells, along with stone chime stones, jiangu drums, and other musical instruments and bronze ritual vessels. After the four chambers were cleared, people realized that the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng completely simulated the palace of a feudal lord: the central chamber was the "banquet and music hall," the eastern chamber was the "bedchamber" where the tomb owner lay in eternal rest, and the western and northern chambers were like the "western wing" and the "armory." According to the inscription on the lower bo bell, this bell was presented to Marquis Yi of Zeng by King Hui of Chu in the fifty-sixth year of his reign (433 BC). At that time, Sui County had no museum, so in accordance with the requirements of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, the archaeological team transported the chime bells and other unearthed artifacts to Wuhan, where they were centrally preserved by the Hubei Provincial Museum.

Reporter: The chime bell concert has become a signature performance at the Hubei Provincial Museum. In terms of research and replication of the chime bells, activation of the chime bell IP, and popularization of ritual and music culture, what explorations has the museum undertaken based on this "logo artifact"?

Zhang Xiaoyun: Our museum promotes theoretical research on the chime bells through the platform of the Chime Bell Research Institute, and has completed multiple 1:1 high-precision replicas in cooperation with universities and research institutions, which closely match the originals in shape, decoration, pitch accuracy, and timbre, meeting both the museum's daily performance needs and providing performance bells for multiple domestic and international institutions.

The chime bell orchestra, formed around performances on the replicas, is positioned as an extension of the museum's exhibitions, presenting to audiences through the art forms of music and dance. Since its establishment in 1987, it has built a three-tier performance system of "regular performances — special performances — overseas performances." The chime bell music and dance performed by the orchestra is guided by archaeological evidence and has accumulated rich practical experience in instrument configuration, performance techniques, and Chu dance interpretation. In 2025, the orchestra conducted 1,330 offline performances, receiving approximately 470,000 visitors. It has also launched live broadcasts of chime bell performances and developed an H5 mobile phone chime bell playing mini-program, breaking through the constraints of time and space to achieve wide dissemination, and has cooperated with Tencent Interactive Entertainment to carry out digital audio sampling of the replicas and establish a database, allowing this "sound-bearing cultural relic" to be preserved permanently. The sampled sound sources are used in music production and embedded in music games, making the Marquis Yi of Zeng chime bells visible, audible, and playable.

(Zhang Xiaoyun is the director of the Hubei Provincial Museum; compiled and organized by Fan Haotian, reporter of this newspaper)

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Beautiful Scenery and Delicious Food, Enjoyable All Year Round (Travel Expert Takes You Around · Charming Small Towns)

By: 本报记者 刘以晴

"Yanji is not big, but it is full of ethnic flavor and the hustle and bustle of everyday life." In the view of Li Chenggen, cultural and tourism promotion officer of Yanji City, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province, the Korean ethnic folk culture and distinctive cuisine of Yanji together constitute the unique scenery of this city.

In the height of summer this year, the business formats of several scenic spots such as the China Korean Folk Park have been renewed, and cultural and tourism projects such as the "Northeast Super" sports events, intangible cultural heritage performances, and the nighttime economy have been launched one after another, integrating with fine food and cultural tourism attractions. Entering the China Korean Folk Park, what first strikes the eye is traditional dwellings with upturned eaves, blue tiles, and white walls. Here, tourists can not only rent Korean ethnic costumes for photo shoots, but also experience traditional Korean wedding customs and watch performances such as swinging on the swing. "Tteok rice cake, tteok rice cake, pounded today, rising higher every year!" In the handcraft experience area, staff warmly greet visitors, and tourists can personally experience the process of pounding tteok.

When a festival comes around, one can go watch a "There Is a Kind of Life Called Yanji" cultural benefit performance, which features not only ethnic intangible cultural heritage performances such as the long drum and sangmo hat dance and samulnori, but also classic pieces like "The Red Sun Shines on the Borderland." To date, Yanji's benefit performances have totaled more than 1,860 shows, receiving over 400,000 visitors. Li Chenggen said that in places such as Yanji People's Park, residents often dance to the music in bright ethnic costumes, "and after watching for a while, you may be pulled into the dancing line."

Leaving the urban area and driving to Mao'er Mountain National Forest Park, one encounters a different kind of scenery. The park's main peak is 517.2 meters above sea level, offering both a cool retreat and a summit climb with a panoramic view of the entire city of Yanji.

After seeing the scenery, the food is equally not to be missed.

At 7 a.m., the Yanji Water Market is already bustling, with more than 850 stalls gathered here selling kimchi, bellflower root, cold noodles, and more. "Rice soup is here — this is our specialty, come and try it." Wang Changsheng, owner of a rice soup shop, introduced that a bowl of white rice paired with Yanbian yellow cattle beef soup gives off a pervasive, delightful aroma. Not far away, the sundae blood sausage shop also has no shortage of customers. Glutinous rice soaked overnight in advance, mixed with pork blood, onion, minced meat, and other ingredients, stuffed into casings and steamed — the resulting blood sausage has a chewy casing and a fragrant, sticky interior. The shop has also added vacuum packaging service, making it convenient for tourists to have it shipped home.

Stone pot bibimbap is likewise having a wide reputation. Hot stone pots are lined with Northeast rice, seasonal vegetables, and sliced meat; upon serving, bright red chili paste is poured over and quickly stirred in, and the golden crust of rice at the bottom of the pot, mixed with the rice and dishes, delivers distinct layers in every bite. Beyond that, there are also fried chicken, fish cakes, ginseng chicken soup, king crab, and more.

"Yanji is a city worth walking through slowly and savoring carefully," Li Chenggen said. In spring, the azaleas bloom covering the mountains and fields, and the banks of the Bu'erhatong River become colorful and bright; in summer, at the Water Market and the Yanbian University night market, one can eat from morning to night; in autumn, the leaves change color, and set against the white walls and black tiles of Korean ethnic villages, they make for especially good photos; in winter, though it is cold, the folk activities combined with ice and snow projects are just as lively and fun.

Tips

For a trip to Yanji, the itinerary offers a choice of travel style depending on budget: with 1–2 days, one can take a photo shoot at the Korean Folk Park and slurp a bowl of cold noodles; with 3–4 days, one can visit the Water Market and the West Market to feel the hustle and bustle of everyday life, browse intangible cultural heritage workshops, and then head to a rural farm stay to watch a folk song and dance performance, at a relaxed and unhurried pace.

If time is more ample, one can also visit surrounding cities — go to Longjing City to experience border-town charm, go to Hunchun City to experience "seeing three countries at a glance" and then eat king crab — or take a high-speed train and arrive at the foot of Changbai Mountain in just over an hour, keeping the appointment with Heaven Lake.

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Page editors: Meng Yang, Tang Zhongke, Zhu Yan

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City Gifts Keep the City's Momentum Alive (Perspective)

By: 本报记者 田 泓 祝大伟 吕绍刚

A small souvenir gift carries a city's cultural memory and industrial character. From Shanghai's Shanghai-style pastries to Harbin's cultural and creative gift boxes, and then to Shenzhen's tech products... In recent years, many localities have leveraged their own endowments to explore differentiated development paths, allowing "city gifts" to break out of the single category of traditional specialty souvenirs and become mobile calling cards of the city that link commercial innovation, cultural creativity, and technological empowerment, releasing multiple values in expanding domestic demand, invigorating industry, and building brands.

— Editor

Policy Guidance

City Gifts Improve Quality and Expand Scale

The rapid rise of city gifts is both a market choice driven by consumption upgrading and an important national-level arrangement to boost consumption and expand domestic demand. Behind it lies the dual drive of deep integration of the cultural tourism industry and the upgrading of urban commerce.

In October 2023, the Ministry of Commerce issued the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Brand Building in the Commercial Sector," which explicitly proposed promoting the formation of a batch of "must-buy, must-take" city gifts that integrate commercial innovation, cultural creativity, and technological empowerment. In 2025, the Ministry of Commerce and five other departments issued the "Notice on Further Optimizing the Tax Refund Policy for Departing Travelers and Expanding Inbound Consumption," further supporting localities in cultivating and building high-quality specialty products for "city gifts," guiding them into tax-refund stores, and making city gifts an important lever for enriching the supply of goods.

As portable, repurchasable consumption carriers, city gifts can transform tourists' short-term visits into sustainable commodity consumption, drive the coordinated development of upstream and downstream industries such as food processing, cultural and creative design, and intelligent manufacturing, promote the standardization and branding of scattered local specialties and handmade products, and help local small and medium-sized enterprises and time-honored brands break through geographical limitations.

Wang Huimin, a researcher at the Institute of Applied Economics of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that today, city gifts are upgrading from traditional souvenirs into high-quality consumption engines and are a distinctive calling card that showcases a city's charm.

In the view of Huang Jin, deputy director of the Operation and Management Department of Harbin Modern Hotel Cultural Tourism Investment Group, city gifts are also an important carrier for activating local characteristic resources and sustaining the momentum of cultural tourism.

From top-level policy guidance to proactive local exploration, city gifts have become an important lever for expanding domestic demand, invigorating industry, and building brands. Localities, based on their different resource endowments, are forging development paths with their own distinctive characteristics.

Creativity Empowerment

Traditional Local Products Break Out and Spread

"Shanghai Gifts" targets first-time visitors to Shanghai, frequent return travelers, and parent-child families, and carries multiple development values. It is a "converter" of inbound traffic, closely leveraging the dividend of the tax-refund policy for departing travelers and launching special gift boxes incorporating White Rabbit candy and Shikumen elements, driving growth in both average order value and repurchase rate; it is an "integrator" of quality resources, linking scattered resources such as "Shanghai Design" and events, exhibitions, and performances, launching scarce offerings such as event-collectible blind boxes and high-end customized editions, and promoting a leap in the value of industrial resources; it is also a "translator" of the city's narrative, decoding local culture through international design and driving word-of-mouth dissemination through emotional resonance.

In the "Shanghai Gifts" selection organized by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism and other units, the Hasu butterfly pastry gift box developed by Bailian Yike was selected.

The butterfly pastry is generally believed to have originated in France in the early 20th century and entered Shanghai's pastry shops during the Republican period. After decades of "Shanghai-style transformation," Shanghai butterfly pastry gradually developed its own style—sweeter but more restrained than traditional European and American versions, and also developed savory and other flavors.

Butterfly pastry is delicious, but the basic craft threshold for the common market version is relatively low. How can mass-produced butterfly pastry differentiate itself from similar products in professional bakeries?

"Since it is a 'Shanghai Gift,' we must try to maintain the local flavor as much as possible." Cao Dan, chief R&D officer of Bailian Yike, introduced that crispness is one of the important indicators for evaluating whether butterfly pastry is good. Butterfly pastry produced by machines on the market usually has more than 100 layers of puff pastry, while Yike Hasu innovates the production process, achieving up to 255 layers; in terms of ingredients, imported butter is used to enhance the overall milky aroma and crispness, and the appearance is also fuller and more plump.

In terms of product naming and packaging design, Hasu butterfly pastry embraces the younger generation with the concept of new Chinese-style trends. "We should be more careful" uses a single phrase to convey two meanings (pun):it both carries the Shanghai dialect meaning of "having a snack" and implies "putting one's heart into" creating delicious food. The packaging comes in multiple portion sizes, including small packs and gift boxes, meeting the multi-scenario needs of single-person pocket snacks, family sharing, and festive travel souvenirs. In terms of channels, in addition to Yike convenience stores, stores have also been opened in high-speed rail station waiting halls and major commercial districts, and online ordering with nationwide delivery is available.

If Shanghai's city gifts are an innovative sample of polishing quality on the traditional commercial track, then Harbin's "Erbin Gifts" are a typical representative of activating the city IP (intellectual property) through cultural creativity.

By transforming "Erbin," a nickname given by tourists, into a city IP, and injecting diverse regional characteristics such as Jin-Yuan culture, European continental culture, and ice and snow culture into product design, Harbin can further activate its local "cold resources," achieving the transformation from "cold resources" to "hot IP." "City gifts can not only help tourists preserve exclusive travel memories, but also continue to sustain the city's popularity through spontaneous dissemination, build the city's cultural tourism brand over the long term, and cultivate new economic growth points," Huang Jin introduced.

In the Erbin Gift store in Harbin's Sun Island Scenic Area, a gift box named "Feng Sheng Shui Qi" (Wind, Sound, Water, Rise) is particularly eye-catching.

"One character, one object; four characters form an auspicious phrase." Xie Longpeng, manager of the Erbin Gift store, introduced that each gift corresponds to a unique cultural symbol of Harbin: "Feng" (wind) is a folding fan made of Northeast Chinese floral fabric, "Sheng" (sound) is a music box refrigerator magnet of Saint Sophia Cathedral, "Shui" (water) is a collapsible silicone cup with an ice and snow theme, and "Qi" (rise) is a bottle opener with condensed Russian-style architectural patterns. The products incorporate folk customs, ice and snow, European continental architecture, and other characteristic symbols, and the combined auspicious meaning adds social attributes.

After the product was launched, cultural and creative check-in locations were used to attract traffic, and collection-for-prize and blind box gameplay were launched to stimulate tourist participation; offline, multi-scenario placement and IP linkage were carried out, while online, short videos of tourists unboxing were used for dissemination, with a single video reaching over 10,000 views. A series of measures drove the "Feng Sheng Shui Qi" gift box to quickly break out, and the first batch of 10,000 sets sold out completely.

"The cultural tourism boom has driven the rapid development of Harbin's city gifts." Kong Qingbin, Party secretary and chairman of Harbin Modern Hotel Cultural Tourism Investment Group, introduced that the group undertakes the operation of the "Erbin" city IP. At present, "Erbin Gifts" cover cultural and creative products, local specialties, daily necessities, and more, and have built a product system of more than 30 series and over 500 individual items. In recent years, "Erbin Gifts" cultural and creative products have been exhibited at well-known domestic and international exhibitions such as the China-Russia Expo and the Shenzhen International Cultural Industries Fair, becoming a bright brand for promoting the city.

Technology-Driven

Creating a New Form of Gifts

While most cities are still focusing on the traditional food and cultural and creative tracks, Shenzhen, Guangdong, relying on its industrial foundation in intelligent manufacturing and industrial design, has broken out of the traditional path and endowed city gifts with entirely new connotations and forms, making "innovative vitality" the most distinctive label of city gifts.

On the eve of this year's Spring Festival, an AI (artificial intelligence) toy named "Luma" became a bestseller on the New Year shopping lists of Shenzhen citizens and tourists, selling nearly 10,000 units in less than a month after launch.

This "little horse" has a cute appearance and is equipped with an advanced intelligent agent system. It can interact with users on topics such as traditional culture and financial knowledge, turning artificial intelligence from a technical concept into a perceptible, experienceable product, and quickly gained consumer recognition upon launch.

The popularity of a city gift reflects the industrial strength of a city. It is understood that, relying on the rich electronic component supply chain and industrial supporting facilities of Huaqiangbei in Futian, Shenzhen, "Luma" went from blueprint to production prototype in just one day.

Thanks to the efficient industrial ecosystem, more and more "AI good products" are reaching the market. To help consumers "pan for gold" among the vast array of tech New Year goods, in February this year, Huaqiangbei, based on real product sales data, technological leadership, price discounts, and consumer recognition, launched the "AI Eight Steeds" ranking list, selecting eight major categories including drones, AI glasses, and AI translation devices to provide a reference for consumer purchasing.

After the list was released, sales of products on the "AI Eight Steeds" list increased by 55%. To date, the "AI Eight Steeds" list has been published for three editions, continuously discovering and promoting good products with innovativeness and market potential, and pushing more Shenzhen-made, Shenzhen-innovated products to global consumers.

From the breakout of the single "Luma" product to the hot sales of the "AI Eight Steeds," this is a microcosm of Shenzhen's cultivation of city gift brands with technological innovation as the core and design empowerment as the path.

Lin Yu, deputy secretary-general of the Shenzhen Retail Commercial Association, said that the association has carried out the "Shenzhen Souvenirs" project for many consecutive years, seeking specialty products that can represent Shenzhen and that tourists "must buy and must take." "In Shenzhen, city gifts are not limited to the presentation of regional symbols, but rely on industrial advantages such as consumer electronics, intelligent hardware, and industrial design, highlighting 'Shenzhen original, Shenzhen elements,' making innovation the distinctive foundation of city gifts," Lin Yu said.

"Global tourists coming to Shenzhen all expect to find 'new, special, and unique' products with a sense of surprise," Lin Yu said. Shenzhen's industrial design and intelligent manufacturing industries lead the country. When a city needs exclusive gifts, enterprises have the ability to turn hardcore technology and cutting-edge design into the latest commodities. "We hope that through every city gift, we can directly showcase Shenzhen's innovative vitality."

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2,000-Year-Old "Eco-Friendly Lamp" Shines Anew (Treasure of the Museum)

A bronze phoenix lamp, spanning 2,000 years of time, still commands attention. The feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp at the Museum of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region bears witness to the superb casting craftsmanship of the Lingnan region in the Han Dynasty, tells the historical story of the blending and development of Chinese civilization, and is also the central image of the museum's emblem.

Reporter: Why has this cultural relic twice become the emblem image of the Museum of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region?

Tao Shaoyi: The reason the Western Han feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp was able to become the museum emblem stems from its irreplaceable (无可替代, wu ke ti dai - "not can, replace") cultural representativeness and recognizability. It was unearthed in 1971 from Tomb No. 1 of the Western Han Dynasty at Wangniuling in Hepu County, Guangxi, and entered the collection of the Museum of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 1972. It is one of the most representative artifacts among Han Dynasty bronze lamps unearthed in Guangxi, with the most exquisite craftsmanship and the most beautiful form.

In 2006, when the regional autonomous region museum was finalizing its emblem plan, after multiple rounds of selection, experts ultimately unanimously chose the feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp as the prototype. The overall curves of the cultural relic are smooth and elegant, the entire body is engraved with feather patterns, combining solemnity with delicacy; moreover, the phoenix bird is an auspicious symbol in traditional Chinese culture, signifying peace and prosperity, highly consistent with the museum's mission of inheriting civilization and serving the public. More importantly, it integrates the culture of the Central Plains Han culture with local Lingnan cultural characteristics, and was unearthed at Hepu, the starting port of the Maritime Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, fully reflecting Guangxi's historical heritage of openness, inclusiveness, and multicultural blending.

In 2021, the museum solicited new emblem design proposals nationwide, receiving a total of 205 works, and after layer-by-layer evaluation still decided to use the feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp as the central image.

Today, this cultural relic has not only become the emblem of the regional autonomous region museum, but has also become an important cultural symbol of Guangxi. The "Twin Phoenixes Returning to the Nest" design concept of Terminal 2 of Nanning Wuxu International Airport, Guangxi's float, and the commemorative stamps of the "China 2016 Asian International Stamp Exhibition" have all drawn inspiration from the feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp.

Reporter: This cultural relic is called an "environmental protection lamp." What is unique about its form?

Tao Shaoyi: The feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp stands approximately 33 centimeters tall. The phoenix bird looks back over its shoulder, its tail feathers naturally trailing to the ground, forming a three-point support with its two feet, remaining stable without needing an additional base — a very ingenious structural design.

It can be called a 2,000-year-old "environmental protection lamp." The lampshade and smoke-conducting tube connect with the abdominal cavity, which can hold about 1 liter of clean water; soot produced by combustion can travel along the smoke-conducting tube into the abdominal cavity and dissolve in the water, achieving the effect of eliminating smoke and dust. The rotatable lampshade can also adjust the direction of illumination, and the design combines practicality with human-centered consideration.

Reporter: What findings has academia made regarding its specific use?

Tao Shaoyi: At present, academia generally believes that the feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp belongs to the Han Dynasty "gong lamp" (hollow-shaft lamp) system, and together with the Changxin Palace Lamp and the painted wild goose-and-fish bronze gong lamp, belongs to the category of high-grade lighting implements, mostly found in high-ranking aristocratic tombs of the Han Dynasty. The feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp was unearthed from Tomb No. 1 of the Western Han Dynasty at Wangniuling in Hepu County. Pottery vessels inscribed with "Jiuzhen Prefecture" and "Utensils of Jiuzhen Prefecture" were unearthed from the tomb, indicating that the tomb occupant should have been a senior official or local aristocrat of Jiuzhen Commandery in the Western Han Dynasty, and this pair of exquisite bronze phoenix lamps was an important marker of his identity.

Some scholars also believe that the phoenix bird form embodies the Han Dynasty concept of auspicious omens and may have also served a ceremonial function, but its primary attribute remains that of a practical lamp.

Reporter: What achievements has the museum made in the long-term conservation and innovative revitalization of the feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp?

Tao Shaoyi: In recent years, the regional autonomous region museum has consistently adhered to conservation first, continuously strengthening the preventive conservation of the feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp. After the completion of the new museum building, it was equipped with a constant-temperature, constant-humidity independent display case, and a routine monitoring and maintenance mechanism was established. Since the new museum opened in 2022, the feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp has been on display to visitors as part of the permanent exhibition "Ancient Civilization of Guangxi," and is occasionally loaned for display elsewhere, allowing audiences in various places to admire its splendor without traveling far.

Centering on this cultural relic IP (intellectual property), the regional autonomous region museum has continuously expanded its paths for revitalization and utilization. On the one hand, it has developed dozens of cultural and creative products including stationery, jewelry, home goods, and trendy toys, among which the feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp pendants, refrigerator magnets, and themed silk scarves are widely popular; on the other hand, it has launched study courses such as "Secrets of the Phoenix Lamp" and brand activities such as "Museum Wonderful Night," allowing visitors to experience the charm of the cultural relic through bronze craftsmanship experiences, environmental science experiments, and other forms.

The museum has supported the creation of artistic works including the dance "Forging the Phoenix" and the puppet show "National Treasure Stories: The Bronze Phoenix Lamp," and has completed high-precision three-dimensional scanning of the bronze phoenix lamp, advancing the construction of smart exhibitions. Now, visitors can use naked-eye 3D, holographic imaging, or augmented reality explanation glasses to experience the exquisite structure and engraving craftsmanship of the bronze phoenix lamp in an immersive, panoramic manner. This phoenix lamp spanning 2,000 years is now radiating new brilliance.

From the ancient port of the Maritime Silk Road to the modern exhibition hall, from a Han Dynasty palace lamp to a cultural landmark of Guangxi, the feather-patterned bronze phoenix lamp carries the developmental imprint of the diversity in unity, inclusiveness, and openness of Chinese civilization, and also reflects the vitality of the era in the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture. This thousand-year gong lamp will continue to illuminate the path forward for the inheritance and innovative development of traditional Chinese culture.

(Tao Shaoyi is the director of the Museum of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; this article was compiled by our reporter Li Weijun from an interview.)

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Fan-Shaped Layout Embodies Kinship and Nostalgia (Exploring Traditional Villages)

By: 本报记者 董泽扬

Shibahang Village, Huiwen Town, Wenchang City, Hainan Province, was first built in the Ming Dynasty. Having weathered over 500 years of wind and rain, it still preserves intact the unique layout of the "Eighteen Rows." Eighteen groups of orderly courtyards are arranged longitudinally, shaped like a fan slowly unfolding, fixing the simple rural custom of "brothers of one heart, neighbors who do not deceive one another" into a visible spatial order. In 2010, the village was selected for the fifth batch of "Chinese Historical and Cultural Villages"; in 2012, it was included in the first batch of the list of Traditional Chinese Villages.

Shibahang Village was originally named Hu Village. The ancestors of the Lin family migrated here from southern Fujian, and descendants built new homes in rows and columns around the old ancestral house, gradually forming the "Eighteen Rows" layout by the end of the Qing Dynasty. Viewed from above, the courtyards are like the face of a fan and the lanes like the ribs of a fan, set amid lush greenery; walking through the village, each row of courtyards is built along the slope, tightly arranged and neatly ordered like the teeth of a comb, while the open small square is like the handle of the comb, leading the cluster of buildings to rest in the countryside.

The essence of this layout lies in the order within a single "row." "When brothers divided the family property and built houses, they had to be adjacent to the ancestral house, forming one 'row.'" In the Historical and Cultural Hall, docent Lin Yunchun (林运椿) was speaking in a slow and engaging manner (娓娓道来, wei wei dao lai - "softly, slowly, speak, come") to visitors in front of the village layout map. On the central axis of each "row," the front and rear main doors of the main hall of each successive courtyard must be aligned, connected in a straight line, seeing clearly through to the end at a single glance (一眼望穿, yi yan wang chuan - "one, eye, gaze, through"), with no obstruction of the line of sight, symbolizing that family bloodlines are linked and hearts are in communion. Pushing open a courtyard gate, one immediately feels the tranquility and seclusion of the brick-and-tile houses and the courtyard filled with potted plants; in the middle of the courtyard is a spacious hall, flanked by wing rooms for dwelling. Standing at the head of a row and looking toward its end, the main halls of each successive courtyard open their central front and rear doors, nested like the character "回," as if an invisible axis strings together the houses of one "row," symmetrical left and right, orderly and well-proportioned (规整有方, gui zheng you fang - "regular, neat, have, square").

Between "row" and "row," there are likewise rules. The height of the eaves and the curvature of the upturned corners are all kept consistent — "The houses of brothers of the same generation must be level, which is called 'neighbors do not deceive one another,' manifesting that within the clan there is no distinction of high or low, noble or base," Lin Yunchun said.

The ingenuity of the architecture is also reflected in its wisdom for livability. Shibahang Village faces south and backs north. In summer, the orientation of the lanes aligns with the wind direction, and the mouths of the lanes face the village pond, able to deliver coolness to every household. At the corner of a small lane, a wall covered with transparent glass displays the "secret" of how the houses stay cool: the light gray flat exterior walls reduce heat absorption, the hollow walls increase insulation, and the projecting eaves expand the shaded area for enjoying the cool.

Leaving the village, one walks along Tongxin Road, and behind the road's name there is also a story. "When soliciting opinions on renaming, everyone felt that this road begins at Tongxin Square, and unanimously agreed to change 'Beishan Road' to 'Tongxin Road,' to express the meaning of unity and one heart with the neighboring village," Lin Yunchun said. The warm place name, the orderly layout, and the deep local sentiment make this traditional village, having experienced many vicissitudes of life (饱经沧桑, bao jing cang sang - "fully, endure, mulberry, mulberry"), possess a culture that can be seen, a nostalgia that can be remembered, and, moreover, a heritage that comes alive.

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Page editors: Meng Yang, Tang Zhongke, Xu Yang

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Landscape Splendor · Our National Day Stories

The mountains and rivers stretch vast and far, and the lights of ten thousand homes are warm and dear.

National Day is the birthday of New China, a shared festival for hundreds of millions of Chinese people. At every such moment, a deep and intense emotion grows and surges in our hearts. It needs no words, yet it is felt by all alike.

Not long ago, this page issued a call for submissions to our readers under the title "Our National Day Stories." Unfolding the letters received, we found that everyone's pen tended to fall on the people and things around them: a journey home, a gathering of friends, a flag-raising at dawn, a family's shared labor... They seem ordinary, yet they are not ordinary, because within the details of these stories are hidden the shifting light and shadow of life's changes, and in the smoke of everyday human life is reflected the vigorous, striving figure of a nation. Today, we select a few pieces from the large number of submissions for publication. Through these words, we can feel the truth of the people's affection for the motherland, and appreciate the source of the strength by which this great country strides forward.

The three characters "our" are precisely the key to this page's theme — the reason the mountains and rivers are so vast, and the lights are so warm and dear, stems precisely from the deep devotion to both family and country (家国情深, jia guo qing shen - "family, country, deep, affection") and working hard and diligently (躬身耕耘, gong shen geng yun - "bend, body, plow, cultivate") of countless laborers. The rings of the Republic's age are forged, circle by circle, from the struggles of the people. Every person who lives life seriously is a writer of the era. May the rivers and mountains be beautiful, and the years be long and peaceful. May the new era unfold magnificent chapters, and those who set pen to paper are none other than you, me, and him.

— Ed  itor

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Night Delivery of a Flag (The Land's Flourishing Grace)

By: 方成龙

Another National Day had arrived. Seeing the crowd crowded with people (人头攒动, ren tou zan dong - "person, head, crowd, move") before the counter selling national flags in the mall, my heart gave a sudden jolt, and an experience from more than ten years ago surfaced before my eyes.

In 2008, I was working at the Baziling Tunnel site on the Yichang–Wanzhou Railway. Surrounded by mountains, with people at the bottom of the valley, we were busy all day chiseling rock and building the road, so much so that we lost track of the passage of days.

That evening, the project department held its routine production progress meeting. Someone suddenly remarked that the next day would be National Day and suggested holding a flag-raising ceremony in the morning to boost everyone's morale for the work ahead. The proposal won unanimous approval on the spot.

But A Guo from the office spread his hands, a look of difficulty on his face: "The project department has no spare national flag. What do we do?"

It was already past 8 o'clock in the evening, and the nearest market town, Langping, was five or six kilometers away. The small shops deep in the mountains had likely long since closed for the night.

A Guo lowered his head and thought for a moment, then picked up his phone and called the owner of a shop he knew in the town. When the other party heard he wanted to buy a national flag, he said frankly: "They were all sold out this morning." But when he heard A Guo say the flag was needed for the "Welcome National Day, Raise the National Flag" ceremony at the worksite at 8 o'clock the next morning, the shop owner was silent for a moment, then said: "Let me think of a way. I'll deliver the flag to the worksite around 7 in the morning. How about that?"

A Guo agreed repeatedly. The stone hanging over everyone's hearts also settled, and one by one the tense faces relaxed into smiles.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, before it was even 7 o'clock, the sputtering roar of a motorcycle sounded from outside the project department door. Everyone went out to look and saw the shop owner dismount from the bike, holding a bright red national flag, which he delivered into A Guo's hands, his face full of sincerity: "I haven't delayed your ceremony, have I?"

A Guo's hands trembled slightly, and his voice was agitated: "No delay, no delay — you even delivered it early!"

Seeing the shop owner's travel-worn appearance, A Guo asked where he had found the flag. The shop owner seemed to want to say something but held back, and only after repeated questioning did he reveal what had happened behind the scenes.

It turned out that after hanging up the phone, the shop owner had thought it over again and again, and in the end contacted his son-in-law, who ran a shop far away in Yichang, instructing him to drive through the night to deliver a national flag to Langping. At first, the son-in-law could not quite understand, feeling that driving the mountain roads in the pitch dark was too arduous. But in the end, unable to withstand the shop owner's repeated persuasion, he drove through the night. By the time the flag reached Langping, it was already past 3 o'clock in the morning. The shop owner had waited in his shop through the night, and as soon as the sky began to lighten, he rode his motorcycle to deliver the flag to the worksite.

At that time, there was no expressway yet between Yichang and Langping; the only route was National Highway 318, nearly 120 kilometers in total, all of it undulating, winding curves, and requiring crossing three mountain passes. Among them, the Bei'ao Pass, at an elevation of more than 1,300 meters, was sometimes blocked. Even in fine weather, driving this stretch took two to three hours to complete.

After hearing what the shop owner said, A Guo was stunned with astonishment. He tightly clasped the shop owner's hands, a thousand words surging in his heart, yet unable to utter a single one.

At exactly 8 o'clock that morning, the fiery red national flag rose slowly with the morning sun at the worksite. More than 300 railway construction workers stood in neat ranks, facing the flag, singing the national anthem at the top of their voices. The sonorous singing echoed through the valley for a long time. The story of the shop owner delivering the flag by night also spread through the worksite in an instant.

Later, the tunnel was completed ahead of schedule. At the celebration gathering, we specially invited this shop owner. Speaking of the matter of delivering the flag by night, he said with deep emotion: "You, in order to bore through the tunnel in the mountains, have put down roots in this mountain gully and struggled for five or six years. Compared with your hardships, what is this little toil of ours? What's more, this was contributing a share of effort to celebrate National Day — just like supporting the railway construction, it is our proper duty."

Since that day, whenever I see the national flag, I always think of that National Day, of the shop owner in Langping Town who delivered the flag by night and his son-in-law, and of the memory of our fellow workers raising the flag and singing the national anthem in the mountain gully...

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Doggy Bags at the National Day Reception (Gems of the Land)

By: 董恒波

Bayika Kalidibek sat before me, rolling a cigarette between his fingers as he slowly recounted the past.

It was 2024 when Bayika Kalidibek was conferred the national honorary title of "People's Guardian," and for this purpose he made a special trip to Beijing on the eve of National Day. After the conferral ceremony concluded, he was invited to attend the solemn National Day reception. This Tajik herdsman from the Pamir Plateau, whose family has guarded the border for three generations in succession, now joined representatives from all walks of life in celebrating the motherland's birthday, sharing the same table in joyous celebration of National Day. The excitement deep in Bayika Kalidibek's heart surged like the waves rippling across the highland's Baisha Lake.

This was the old man's first time in his life attending a reception in the Great Hall of the People, and a flood of emotions and thoughts (万千思绪, wan qian si xu - "ten thousand, myriad, thoughts, surround") swirled in his mind. He silently resolved that once he returned to his hometown, he would tell the villagers of the plateau everything he had seen and felt on this trip. For this weighty honor belonged to every border guard who braved wind and snow on the Pamir Plateau.

As the reception drew to a close, melodious music began to play and guests rose one after another to take their leave. Bayika Kalidibek slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping across the vast dining table, and his footsteps came to a halt. He looked around, hesitating, and did not follow the crowd toward the exit.

"Grandfather, do you need any help?" a young waitress stepped forward quickly and asked in a soft voice.

Bayika Kalidibek did not answer immediately; his gaze rested on several cream longevity peaches on the serving plate.

"This big peach..."

The words reached his lips, then were swallowed back. It suddenly occurred to him that this was a reception at the Great Hall of the People, not a family feast in his own yurt. He had already eaten his fill; if he asked to pack up food, would he invite ridicule?

"Grandfather, would you like to take the longevity peaches home?" the attentive waitress read the expectation in the old man's eyes.

Bayika Kalidibek smiled sheepishly and nodded slowly: "This happiness of National Day, I am unwilling to enjoy alone. If possible, I would like to take the longevity peaches back to Xinjiang, so that my family can share in this joy together. Such joy is something money cannot buy."

"I understand, Grandfather. Food from the reception may be taken away, and I have packing boxes prepared right here!" the waitress replied with a smile.

Bayika Kalidibek smiled along with her and remarked casually: "You don't know, my little granddaughter Duerhan came along to Beijing this time too. That girl is quite the little foodie."

To the old man's surprise, the waitress said softly: "We all know Duerhan. She is the daughter of Lazini, a 'Role Model of the Times,' and she was a 2023 national 'Role Model Good Youth of the New Era.' Young people across the country all look to her as an example."

As they chatted, the waitress carefully placed the longevity peaches into a packing box, then fetched a plastic bag and packed up several apples from the table as well. "Please take these apples to Duerhan, and wish her to study hard, and when she grows up, to guard the motherland's borderlands."

At this point in the story, Bayika Kalidibek suddenly remembered something. He turned around, opened his leather suitcase, and carefully took out that packing box printed with the words "Great Hall of the People," holding it up before my eyes as if cradling a treasure.

"The longevity peaches and apples, I long ago shared them with the villagers to taste together. But this packing box, I will treasure it well. What it holds is not just pastries, but also a warmth from the capital." The old man smiled and extended an invitation: "Today, stay at my home and drink milk tea, eat naan and hand-pulled rice. The heartfelt offering of the Pamir, you must taste it!"

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Photo Report

The Chinese painting Wan Shan Hong Bian, Ceng Lin Jin Ran (All Mountains Crimson, Layered Forests Dyed), by Chen Weixin, is in the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum.

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This Day in October

By: 赵 阳

On this day, I read profundity in the dim light of bronze vessels

On this day, I counted brilliance amid the mottled traces of oracle bone inscriptions

On this day, I touched majesty in the deep stillness of the Mogao Grottoes

On this day, I gathered vastness from the kiln fire of Tang tri-colored glazed pottery

I opened my ignorant eyes and opened the October textbook

Every page shines with the lone smoke of the desert and the magnificent mountains and rivers

I spread my youthful arms and embraced the October sunlight

Every ray is filled with the fervor of growth and the hope of happiness

On this day, a call came through five thousand years of history

"Child, come! In the snow of the northern frontier, strengthen your physical and mental constitution (锻炼筋骨, duan lian jin gu - "exercise, train; sinews, bones")

The land of more than 9.6 million square kilometers is your backbone"

On this day, a wind from ten thousand li blew into our beloved homeland

"Child, go! Blend the hot blood of youth into the rivers

The stronger the motherland, the broader the road ahead"

On this day, the sky was so bright, so azure

In the chip of love, I found the answer to growing up

On this day, the soil was so fragrant, so full

In the starry river of dreams, I lit the flame of departure

On this day, the wind over the Fragrant Harbor is gentle beyond measure

In the projection of time, my heart remembers the young oath

On this day, the waves of Victoria Harbour surge and unfold

In the rings of the years, love carves the poem of the era

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I Know This Red

By: 张惠芬

I know this red; it was once worn by my father

on his chest, like a lamp

lighting up the night of the thatched cottage

In the fields, the wind carries sounds from the ridges of fate

The earth surges; look

the farmland has already conceived the tide of spring

I know this red; it comes from a scholar's years of cold study

Diligent study is necessary

Some grow wings through diligent study

Their flight is not only related to lamplight

More importantly, it brings this radiance to more people

I know this red; the largest star within it describes

a small spark that can start a great movement (星星之火, xing xing zhi huo - "star, small, particle, fire"), inseparable from the truth of the years of beacon-fire and smoke

It once sought with unswerving determination (矢志不渝, shi zhi bu yu - "aim, will, not, change") to find the sickle and the hammer

In a hidden rural cottage or in some

attic on a small alley, it was dyed red by the blood of an oath

I know this red; its name holds five stars

Having walked through 77 years of time

On the long march, traveling long distances through difficult terrain (跋山涉水, ba shan she shui - "climb, mountain, wade, water") and overcoming all obstacles (披荆斩棘, pi jing zhan ji - "remove, thorns, cut, brambles"),

it seeks only light and ideals

I have seen its successive waves of people stepping forward (前赴后继, qian fu hou ji - "go, forward, follow, succeed")

and, after those successive waves, the clarity and brightness of the human world

I know this red; among all reds, it

has always served as tinder, torch, lighthouse, and beacon light

shining in a country called "Descendants of the Dragon"

Now it is redder and brighter still, standing on the shoulders of history

And behold, its radiance illuminates the whole world

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Three Plaques of Honor (Landscapes of the Earth)

By: 马庆民

As far back as I can remember, two plaques reading "Family of Honor" hung on the lintel of our family's courtyard gate. On the older one, most of the gold paint had flaked away, leaving only the characters "Honor" still barely legible. That one belonged to my grandfather.

Grandfather was a veteran of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. When he was demobilized and returned to his hometown, the government issued this plaque. At the time, the family did not yet have a courtyard gate, so Grandfather nailed it himself onto the door frame of the main hall. Later, when the main hall was renovated and the door frame was removed, Grandfather built the courtyard wall, and the plaque was hung on the lintel of the courtyard gate.

The second plaque belonged to my eldest uncle. He joined the army at 19 and spent six years on the Gobi Desert in the northwest. The year he was discharged, the civil affairs department delivered a new plaque, gleaming bright.

Grandfather was very pleased. He personally hung that plaque solemnly on the courtyard gate as well, the old one on top, the new one below.

Wiping the plaques and hanging the national flag on National Day has been a rule in our family for decades. In the past, Grandfather did it himself, first wiping the plaque of honor once with a wet cloth, then once with a dry cloth, and finally polishing it carefully with an old piece of flannel. Sometimes his movements were very slow, so slow that it seemed he was caressing one memory after another.

Later, Grandfather passed away, and the task of wiping the plaques of honor fell to my eldest uncle. Eldest Uncle was different from Grandfather: he wiped Grandfather's plaque of honor very carefully, but his own he wiped very quickly, finishing it in no time.

After hanging the national flag, Eldest Uncle would tilt his head back, looking at the flag and also at the plaques of honor. No one knew what he was thinking.

When I was nine, my father died in a car accident. At my most sorrowful moment, Eldest Uncle led me to the courtyard gate, pointed at the plaques of honor, and said, "Child, be strong. Ours is a family of honor; no difficulty is to be feared!" Afterward, it was always Eldest Uncle who quietly helped support our household.

One year before National Day, Eldest Uncle was about to go on a long trip. On the night before he left, he called me to the courtyard gate, pointed at the plaques of honor on the lintel, and said, "You've grown up now. From now on, you'll be the one to wipe the plaques."

That was the first time I touched those two plaques with my own hands. The old one was very rough, and its edges had curled. I could not imagine how many times Grandfather had wiped that plaque over the decades.

Later, I joined the army. On the day I left, Eldest Uncle pointed at the two plaques again and said, "Work hard. This spot below is being kept for you." Who would have thought I would serve in the military for 20 years. Once, when I returned home on leave, my mother told me that before Eldest Uncle passed away, every time he wiped the plaques, he would also wipe clean the spot he had kept for me.

After Eldest Uncle passed away, in recent years it has been my mother who wipes the plaques in my place.

A few years ago, I was transferred from military service back to civilian work. At the end of that year, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs mailed me my own "Family of Honor" plaque. It was larger than the previous two, and it was bright red and gleaming gold. That National Day, I brought the plaque home and hung it myself in the spot Eldest Uncle had kept for me. Then I wiped all three plaques with my own hands.

On the oldest one, the color of the characters had completely fallen away, yet the traces of the characters remained strikingly clear. It was just like Grandfather, who did not like to talk but always had light in his eyes.

On Eldest Uncle's plaque, the gold paint had also darkened. I used the flannel to wipe the four characters "Family of Honor" one by one, and it seemed I had found the answer to why he always finished wiping so quickly and yet would stand there looking for a long time.

Finally, I wiped my own. This one was the brightest, the newest, the most conspicuous. I wiped it quickly, just like Eldest Uncle had back then.

After wiping the plaques, it was time to hang the national flag. As luck would have it, no sooner had the flag been hung than the wind came. The flag was unfurled by the wind, snapping loudly, as if it were a clarion military bugle.

Mother looked up at me, the corners of her mouth moving slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing. In fact, I knew what she wanted to say. After all, on this lintel rested the aspirations of three generations of a large family.

Three plaques, the old ones on top, the new one below, seeming forever to shimmer with a gentle, warm light.

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Mother Has a Patch of Cornfield (Splendors of the Land)

By: 陈 平

My mother is 77 years old, a contemporary of the People's Republic.

She lives in a Tujia mountain village deep in the mountains of Badong, Hubei, tending a few mu of sloping farmland. My siblings and I had discussed bringing Mother into the city to live, but she flatly refused, insisting on staying home to farm and raise pigs, only verbally agreeing to plant less. Mother's sloping land is a bit far from home, and the uphill and downhill paths are inconvenient; in spring, carrying fertilizer to the fields, and in autumn, carrying grain home, all require carrying loads on one's back. So my siblings and I agreed to go home together every year during the May Day holiday to help her transplant corn seedlings, and to return during the National Day holiday to accompany her in the autumn harvest. We have persisted year after year, and this is now the seventeenth year.

In previous years, three male laborers had to carry the corn from three mu of sloping land on their backs for a whole day, making dozens of round trips until their shoulders swelled. But since last year, things have been different, because my brother-in-law acquired a drone.

I remember that before last year's National Day holiday, Mother posted a photo in the family group chat. Under golden sunlight, a thin layer of mist floated over the cornfield, and ripe corn ears weighed down the stalks. Mother also sent a voice message saying that the wild-animal alarm her granddaughter bought online had been a great help, and not a single corn ear was lost. After saying this, she sent a string of laughing heartily (开怀大笑, kai huai da xiao - "open, bosom; big, laugh") emojis.

On National Day last year, the three families returned to Mother's courtyard almost simultaneously from the prefecture capital and the county seat. The drone on my brother-in-law's pickup truck drew the most attention, looking like a crouching eagle. My brother-in-law introduced his experience as a professional drone pilot, and then introduced his heavy-lift drone, which could carry 150 kilograms at a time and was extremely convenient for transport. Mother, who was cooking in the kitchen, also came out to watch the excitement. Her face was full of doubt; she did not believe that this iron contraption before her eyes could help carry back the corn from her three mu of land.

After breakfast, we began harvesting the corn, with my brother-in-law in unified command and dispatch. Mother stayed home to cook, and only one male laborer was left in the courtyard to unload baskets; everyone else went to the fields to break off corn ears, fill baskets, and hook them up. The drone buzzed into the air, hovered over the cornfield, and the wind from its rotors set the corn stalks rustling, as if the entire cornfield were laughing. When the first basket of corn landed steadily in the courtyard in front of the stilt house, Mother stood at the front door and drew in a sharp breath, exclaiming: "This technology nowadays, it's truly remarkable..."

In less than half a day, the corn from three mu of land was neatly piled in the courtyard, forming a small mountain of corn.

The machine for stripping corn husks and the small machine for threshing had been equipped in villagers' homes years ago. My younger brother borrowed a husk-stripping machine and a threshing machine from a neighbor, and called out in the courtyard: "We'll finish in two hours." In a moment, the machines were running. My brother-in-law packed up his drone and, together with me, carried the straw-crushing machine into the field. The stalks were crushed and spread over the field, and in winter they would be turned into the soil as fertilizer for the coming year.

When the evening glow dyed the western ridge red, strings of golden corn ears hung under the eaves of the stilt house, and the rest had become gleaming golden corn kernels spread out on drying mats.

By this time, Mother had finished preparing dinner and called everyone to the table. After the labor, this dinner tasted especially good. On this day of the whole nation celebrating together (举国同庆, ju guo tong qing - "entire, country; together, celebrate"), the whole family had a truly substantial harvest festival.

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Page editors: Zhang Jian, Zhou Shuyi, Ma Yong, Zhang Shanshan, Cheng Hong

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