by Xinhua writer Chen Wenxian
JERUSALEM, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A delegation from China's northwestern province of Gansu held on Wednesday evening a culture and gourmet festival and Gansu tourism promotion at the China Cultural Center in Tel Aviv.
More than 100 Israelis attended the event and were attracted by Gansu's delicious food and amazing traditional arts.
The event was co-hosted by the China Cultural Center in Tel Aviv and the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.
The event featured diverse activities. A photo exhibition titled "Silk Road in Symphony, Gansu in Harmony" showed beautiful scenery of Gansu province.
Participants queued to taste the delicious hand-pulled beef noodles, cooked by skilled chef from Lanzhou, capital city of Gansu.
Activities also displayed intangible cultural heritages like gourds carving, during which the artists carved the shape of landscapes, portraits, animals, calligraphy and poems, and the handmade silk pouches produced in the city of Qingyang, also known as sachets.
Original folk songs of the Yugu minority from Gansu, also an intangible cultural heritage performed by an artist wearing Yugu minority clothes, were warmly applauded.
The event was one of the series of activities for the China Tourism and Culture Week which is being held by China cultural centers all over the world, said Wan Ting, director of the China Cultural Center in Tel Aviv.
"Israeli people have the opportunity to learn Gansu's local culture and the Chinese culture alike through the promotion of Gansu food, handcrafts and tourism resources," Wan told Xinhua.
Uri Yaron, 77 years old, said "the food is excellent. I like very much the performance and the pictures of Gansu telling us the beautiful scenery of the province."
Yaron told Xinhua that he was eager to visit Gansu though he has so far visited China for 20 times.
"The event was amazing. We feel like it is a taste of what we have been through in China," said Avi Ninio, an Israeli producer.
Ninio led an Israeli delegation to attend the Asian Cultural Carnival which was held in Beijing in May and was deeply impressed by Chinese culture.
Though it was his first time to China, he has fallen in love with the country, said Ninio. "There are a lot of things to explore in China."
The Gansu intangible culture and gourmet festival and Gansu tourism promotion were also held in Israeli northern city of Haifa from Monday to Tuesday.
The event was welcomed enthusiastically by Israeli people and they showed great interests, said An Mingwen, director of the promotion division of the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.
