Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Tuesday, March 19th, 2024

Culture in China

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Culture in China

Chinese state and nation pay especial heed to culture and history. Theaters and fashion shows seek to show culture and tradition to tourists from around the world. The priceless antiques and eye-catching art performances fill one with a strong sense of nostalgia for old days and absorb more tourists. China’s rich culture is beyond doubt. The museums in China have many secrets and intact ancients in hearts to disclose them to tourists. If you visit this cultural land without considering the culture and history, this will be a big disregard, if not disloyalty.
Culture is believed to be a full-length mirror of a country which reflects the past and present facts (religion, religious rituals, customs, art, music, monuments, heroic tendencies, etc.). Monuments say unspoken stories of past generations to the present. It is self-explanatory that for building a strong society, a nation needs to maintain its past, including the culture and history, as an eye-opener. For instance, people were living in the state of nature initially and a strong tribal structure ruled human societies for centuries.
People practiced upon their parochial mindsets and ethnic tendencies. Streams of blood were shed and human rights and dignity were violated out of discrimination and ignorance. On the other hand, a number of nations and freedom-fighters fought bravely to protect their rights and lands.
The history is full of honor and dishonor. Now human societies need to review the past so as to measure the magnitude of their progress and learn lesson. Historical and cultural monuments and traditions reflect the past in the best possible way.
China intends to protect its cultural heritage and invests a huge amount of money on it.
If you visit theaters and shows, the folk music and dancing will be really jaw-dropping. My Tuesday’s visit from Dolan tribal tourist spot – which is located in Aksu City of China –gave me a great pleasure. Dolans, the ethnic minority group in China, performed incredible shows in their traditional dresses. The soulful performance of Dolans’ folk music chorus, including women and old men, inspired hope and delight in viewers. After all, the delicious food and big smile on their lips reflected their generosity and hospitality.
Museums in China usually reflect the past nomadic life – which is very similar to the life of Afghan nomads.
The statues are dressed in the same dresses as Afghan female nomads. Moreover, one will find the same tents, same style of baby wrapping and same sort of dishes, along with textiles and some precious stones, in Chinese museums. One will find many common cultural elements between China and Afghanistan. For instance, the sports shown to tourists on TV are Boz Kashi – which is common in northern part of Afghanistan – Afghan-style wrestling, rooster fighting, egg gambling (a group of people break eggs by hitting them to one another, as Afghans do on Eid Days), etc. In brief, the museums and theaters in China reflect its culture, history and folklore and Chinese government pay especial attention in this respect.
Silk Road, which played a significant role in the development of China’s civilization, is a milestone in Chinese history. Therefore, camel and nomadic tribes in their local dresses are widely shown in plays and dramas in this country.
Moreover, Beijing hosted the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation from May 14 to 15 to promote economic and trade cooperation and investment and cultural exchanges. It is believed to be the highest-level international meeting – attended by high-ranking officials from about 30 countries – since the open and inclusive initiative was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.
According to China Daily Newspaper, China’s national capital Beijing has been working to establish long-term cooperation with regional governments. It has established sister-city relations with 54 cities in 49 countries – including 19 capitals of countries along the Belt and Road routes. To sum up, besides showing cultural and historical heritage, regional and global business is a highly significant issue in this country. It should be noted that attracting tourists through cultural heritage will support Chinese economy to a considerable extent.  
There is no doubt that culture and history play crucial role in today’s life. It is believed that with the development of technologies, human societies keep distant from the old days, which were pure and simple.
However, historical relics remain a nation’s nostalgia and also speak the life and history of past generation – it can be a great lesson for human societies, especially for Afghanistan. No wonder, Afghanistan has a rich culture but decades of war and violence not only led to human casualties but also to cultural and historical damages.
It is hoped that Afghanistan will also protect its culture and history from erosion and pave the ground for tourism. 

Hujjatullah Zia is the permanent writer of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at zia_hujjat@yahoo.com

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