BEIJING, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- As the large-sized lanterns dotting two exhibition zones in Kunshan City, east China were lighted on Friday, the city came into a spectacular celebration of the forthcoming Mid-Autumn Festival on September 17.
From September 14, its 2024 Mid-Autumn lantern fair dedicated to boosting cultural and personnel exchanges among compatriots across the Taiwan Strait is open to the public in the Huiju Square and Zhouzhuang Town.
Kunshan is one of the regions with most frequent cross-Strait exchanges as it has remained for years a favored destination for investment and business-starting from Taiwan compatriots.
Photo provided by the Integrated Media Center of Kunshan City shows the Zhouzhuang Town lantern exhibition area in Kunshan City of Jiangsu Province, Sept. 13, 2024.
With dragon-related elements to inspire more to seek cultural tours in Kunshan, several thematic lantern arrays were laid out on the Huiju Square to bring new visual experiences for visitors with digital lighting and augmented reality technologies.
In the Zhouzhuang Town, creative lanterns and metaverse digital light forest were crafted to showcase local customs, indigenous cultural and tourism IP images and Kunshan's landmark locations.
During the lantern fair whose thematic activities will last until late October, Kunshan plans to stage art performances, immersive traditional Chinese Hanfu clothing carnivals and other consumption-fostering activities to further expand cultural exchanges among compatriots across the Strait.
By September 13 when the fourth cultural month to bolster cultural communications between youths across the Strait ended, 50-plus intangible cultural heritages, sports, and artistic activities were rolled out in many cities in Jiangsu Province since July 23.
Among the over 3,300 Taiwan compatriots that participated in these cultural activities, there were 2,500-plus Taiwan youths who grew their friendships with local youths via mutual learning and understanding.
In recent years, Kunshan has been deepening cross-Strait industrial cooperation and in 2023, the city released a basket of measures for Taiwan compatriots to start businesses and seek a career there.
On Friday, a one-stop service center for Taiwan compatriots and companies was launched in Kunshan to provide all-around life services and highly-efficient business-starting services such as school enrollment, house purchasing, health care and old-age services for Taiwan compatriots.
(Edited by Duan Jing with Xinhua Silk Road, duanjing@xinhua.org)
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