The Red Peony International Home, a traditional Chinese culture experiencing center, opened in Jiulonghu town, Zhenhai district, Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province, on March 27, and is expected to provide a platform for foreigners in the city to get a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture.   

The opening ceremony of Red Peony International Home is held in Jiulonghu town, Zhenhai district, Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province, on March 27. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The opening ceremony attracted more than 80 foreigners from over 50 countries, including Malaysia, Poland and Italy. The foreigners participated in on-site experiential activities, featuring traditional Chinese culture such as painting and calligraphy, folk music, tea ceremony and tai chi.

"It unites all communities from all around the world and creates a harmonious atmosphere in one place," said Wizani Rosmin, director of the cultural and tourism department of the Consulate General of Malaysia in Shanghai. Rosmin added that he believes it will become one of the popular tourist attractions in Ningbo in alignment with the popular Ningbo tourism tagline.

Foreign participants take part in flower planting activities during the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The traditional Chinese culture experiencing center was co-sponsored by the Jiulonghu town government and the Red Peony Academy of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, which has helped more than 12,000 foreigners from 170 countries learn traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy.

"In the Red Peony Academy of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy studio I have spent many hours not only learning how to paint flowers, or how to write Chinese characters; I've spent many hours talking about China, about art, people, differences between countries and how people from different countries see the world," said Magdalena Gimbut, a teacher at Ningbo Tech University, who comes from Poland.

The Red Peony International Home could help foreigners to understand China, as well as help all people to find friends. Places like that are real embassies facilitating personal relations, cultural exchanges and intercultural communication, Gimbut added.

In the future, the Red Peony International Home will undertake a series of international cultural exchange activities featuring peony painting and tai chi in a bid to promote Jiulonghu town's rural revitalization.

In recent years, Jiulonghu town has made great efforts to develop all-region tourism relying on its high-quality natural endowment of mountains and rivers. It has received over 1 million tourists annually thanks to its "web celebrity villages" of Hengxi and Qinshan.