Annual culture, travel expo commences in Ningbo

The 2020 Maritime Silk Road Culture and Travel Expo commences in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on Sept 25. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] 

The 2020 Maritime Silk Road Culture and Travel Expo commenced in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, on Sept 25.

A huge array of artwork and handicrafts, including manuscripts of Tolstoy's works, matryoshka dolls, and postcards from Russia, this year's guest country of honor, were showcased at the expo.

Copperware themed around flowers and birds made by Japanese artisans ever since the Meiji period (1868 - 1912) also debuted for the first time in China.

In addition, cities in the Yangtze River Delta, including Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Nantong, exhibited their local cultural and creative products and snacks.

There was also an exhibition area recreating life from the Tang ((618-907), Song (960-1279), and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, transporting people back to ancient times.

This year, the expo is slated to run until Sept 27 and run until 8:30 pm every day.

The event is jointly sponsored by the Publicity Department of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and the Ningbo Municipal People's Government.

The opening ceremony also saw the signing of agreements for 14.55 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in cultural and tourism investment projects to be established in Ningbo.