In recent days, the youth-oriented travel reality show Divas Hit the Road Season V has been captivating audiences on Hunan TV and its online video platform Mango TV, igniting cultural enthusiasm for China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI).

This year marks the 10th anniversary of China's proposed BRI. State-owned Hunan TV, the provincial satellite TV station of Central China's Hunan Province, launched this program. Seven Chinese artists, including Qin Hailu, Qin Lan, Xin Zhilei, Dilraba Dilmurat, Zhao Zhaoyi, Wang Anyu, and Hu Xianxu, embark on a journey including Saudi Arabia, Croatia, and Iceland.

The show follows a "study-travel" format, offering a unique opportunity to share the stories of people along the Silk Road and strengthen cultural connections in a down-to-earth manner. Before the program’s premiere, multiple national tourism boards from Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Iceland, Britain, Australia, South Africa, and Spain posted hashtags related to the program to invite people to share their travel experiences and leave their marks as they journeyed along the way.

Meanwhile, the participating Chinese companies involved in Belt and Road cooperation projects, such as China Railway Construction and China Railway 18th Bureau Group, also joined hands with online users to collectively share the "China stories" along the Silk Road.

Starting from the Cultural Office of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Beijing, the program takes the "study-travel" approach. On one hand, it delves into essential sites along the Belt and Road, such as the China-built Peljesac bridge in Croatia, highlighting key projects and contributions made by Chinese companies. On the other hand, it offers a deep dive into local customs and traditions, fostering international friendships and making new acquaintances.

Since its debut on October 25, the show has encouraged viewers to learn Arabic, with many online users expressing their eagerness to experience Saudi Arabian cuisine and its stunning landscapes. Domestic travel platforms have witnessed a surge of 772% in searches related to "Saudi Arabia."

Through the show’s engaging travel explorations, domestic audiences are taken into the lives of real families living along the Belt and Road, feeling the tangible improvements brought about by Chinese wisdom and contributions. Meeting international friends who love Chinese products, speak Chinese, and have a fondness for China in a foreign land has left the show's participants touched and proud.

China’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chen Weiqing, posted a bilingual promotion of the show to global audiences, stating, China’s most popular variety show, Divas Hit the Road, has completed its filming in Saudi Arabia. Chinese artists have introduced the changes and developments in Saudi Arabia to the Chinese people.

The popularity of the show has not only captivated Chinese audiences but has also led to a surge in interest in the Silk Road and its cultures. Following the program’s broadcast, the search volume for terms like "Saudi" and "Saudi Arabia" on domestic travel platforms experienced a remarkable 772% increase.

As of now, the program has garnered over 2800+ trending mentions on domestic social media platforms, sparking widespread conversations.

The historical drama Qu Yuan will be staged in Shanghai this weekend, telling audiences a story of one of the greatest patriotic poets in ancient China, as well as the splendid early Chinese culture of his time.

The play is based on the life story of Qu Yuan, a statesman and poet of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC), today the central and southern areas of China.

Witnessing the fall of Chu's capital, its people's displacement as well as the loss of land, Qu refused to align himself with the corrupt officials or yield to oppressive forces. He eventually drowned himself in the Miluo River in Central China's Hunan Province, completing the magnificent patriotic anthem that he had composed with his own life.

On stage, the story is going to be told using flashbacks, starting with Qu's last days before he drowned himself in despair. This part will be the biggest highlight of the whole play, said the play's director Guo Xiaonan.

"Qu had a great affection for saving humanity. His spiritual realm was far beyond that of ordinary people, which brought him a unique sense of spiritual loneliness," Guo told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

"Qu also had a deep love for his state. When his ideals and ambitions in life were shattered, he chose to end his life, which I think was not a simple suicide, but a sublimation of his soul," Guo said.

"This spirit has influenced Chinese culture for more than 2,000 years, and also is the strongest part of the play."

Legend has it that after his death, the Chu people were deeply saddened and flocked to the river to pay their respects. China's time-honored Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, commemorates Qu.

Qu was listed as one of the world's four literary celebrities by the World Peace Council in 1953, the other three being Francois Rabelais, Nicolaus Copernicus and William Shakespeare. He left many immortal literary works to later generations, such as Chu Ci, or Songs of Chu, and Jiu Ge, or The Nine Songs.

His famous literary works will be presented in the drama to create a strong emotional resonance with the audience.

Guo said he believes one line from Qu's poetry will resonate the most with the audience: "Long as the way is, I will keep on searching high and low." 

This well-known line embodies human being's exploration of the meaning of life, and the great spirit of perseverance and active endeavor, said Guo.

"Qu and his cultural imprint are a precious spiritual wealth not only of the Chinese nation, but also the whole humanity," he noted.

Apart from Qu's life and his spiritual world, the play will also highlight the culture of Qu's homeland Chu, a charming part of early Chinese culture.

According to Guo, the play will showcase lacquerwares and bronze wares of that time through props, lighting and dances, opening a window for the audience to view the representative culture from the 800-year history of Chu.

The play is being produced by the Hubei Changjiang People's Art Theatre and Hubei Sanxia Performance Arts Group. It is scheduled to be staged at Shanghai's Majestic Theatre on Saturday and Sunday night, as a part of the ongoing 22nd China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

As I was getting ready to listen to a brief on the weeklong Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region tour I was about to take at the multicultural hall of the Jianguomenwai Diplomatic Residence Compound in Beijing, my co-worker Mi Tian jokingly cautioned me: "Birat, don't run away from Xizang just because your home is closer than Beijing."

Having traveled the "roof of the world" for a week, I didn't need to "run away" in search of my home in Nepal as I found Xizang was just like my home. My friend Tan Xiaoren, a Chinese from Malaysia, has told me some useful Chinese words. In Xizang, I was telling him the meaning of "Tashi Delek," a greeting.

On October 6, a dinner was hosted for us by the Xizang regional foreign affairs office at the Phin Tsok Ge Don Restaurant in Lhasa. During the happiest dining hour, all of us were served sweet milk tea. Among the two dozen plus friends from 20 plus countries, we two Nepalese (me and my friend Manju) were sipping the tea we enjoy in our everyday life. However, for other foreign friends, it was a new experience. Deputy head of foreign affairs office of the Xizang Autonomous Region Yi Lin and the region's noted public intellectual Lo Ten sang a Nepali song along with Tibetan songs. Other friends were surprised at seeing them sing a Nepali song.

When we were greeted at the Nyingchi Airport on October 3 by local officials with the gift of scarves, all out other friends greeted them back with greeting gestures. Interestingly, we two Nepali journalists greeted them by presenting our own scarves. Our friends were amazed to see how we greeted each other. For us, though, the Xizang greeting is familial as it shares some commonalities with the Himalayan communities of Nepal. These are some of the few examples of our recent memorable tour to Xizang.

On October 4, an open-air stage at the Dayhello Hotel of Lulang held an artistic performance which included a song titled "Welcome to Pokhara," a tourism town in Nepal. It was the only song in a foreign language because Pokhara of Nepal and the Nyingchi of Xizang are officially sister cities.

I was more than happy to make my first footfall in Xizang. A journalist named Li Guangqing asked me: "Have you ever been to Xizang?" To which I replied, "I have been to Xizang many times in my imagination. But, this is my first time in reality." I did not say this as a joke. It has historical legacy. Nepal's Great Poet Laxmi Prashad Devkota's iconic epic Muna Madan is the story of a Nepali man coming to Xizang. There are many Nepali sayings popular among ordinary Nepali people. For instance, there is "Lhasa janu kutiko bato," which translates as head to "Lhasa via Kuti," a popular pass. Another saying goes: "Lhasama sun chha kaan mero buchchai," which roughly translates as "There is gold in Lhasa but I don't have an earring." This saying describes Nepal's historic trade linkage with Xizang and its impacts among the ordinary people.

Nepal has three international and three bilateral border crossings with Xizang together with a dozen plus local passes for people's movement. This physical attachment is reflected in the cultural and emotional attachment among people from both sides of the Himalayas. For instance, when I saw an English-speaking lady at the Botai Nyingchi Grand Hotel in the Bayi district, I greeted her with "Tashi Delekh." She replied with "Namaste," the Nepali greeting. I later learned that she was from Xigaze, the second largest city in Xizang and which is in close proximity with Nepal. She had not been to Nepal. Still, she could greet in Nepali. This speaks volumes about cross-border camaraderie and cultural communication.

Nepal has 1,414 plus kilometer long border with Xizang. Nepal is the only nation with a diplomatic presence in Xizang. This is another reason for Nepal's attachment to the region.

In the seventh century, Songtsan Gampo, the then king of Xizang, had married the Nepali princess Bhrikuti as his first wife.

This history is well-written in the Jokhang Temple of Lhasa, which was listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 2000. UNESCO also says that the Potala Palace, another World Heritage Site, has architecture that is a mixture of Chinese, Tibetan, Nepali and Indian.

Having traveled from Nyingchi to Lhasa, Lulang to Qiangna, and visited the touristic treasures around their vicinity, I saw Xizang as a home away from home. Lhasa, the sister city of Kathmandu, hosts thriving Nepali traders, including the recent awardee of the fifth edition of My China Story, which made me feel at home.

This time, I traveled by the bullet train from Ngingchi to Lhasa. However, in the future, I want to take a similar journey from Kathmandu to Lhasa. This is possible as Nepal is a BRI partner country and the China-Laos railway is an exemplary railway.

As the US announced its Middle East railway plan during the Group of 20 (G20) Summit over the weekend in India, Chinese experts expressed doubts about its credibility and feasibility, saying that it is not the first time for Washington to make empty pledges to various countries and regions.

The experts noted that the true purpose of the Biden administration is trying to "isolate China" in the Middle East, a region where Chinese cooperation with the region has constantly gained momentum in recent years.

The comment followed an announcement by US President Joe Biden and India regarding a multinational railway and port deal linking the Middle East and South Asia. The announcement came on Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

Biden said it was a "real big deal" that would bridge ports across two continents and lead to a "more stable, more prosperous and integrated Middle East," according to a Reuters report.

The idea of the rail and port network initially emerged at the I2U2 Business Forum, launched in 2021 by the US, India, Israel and the UAE to discuss infrastructure projects in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia joined the discussions later.

Zhou Rong, a senior researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Saturday that the US lacks both the genuine intention and the capability to follow through on its pledge to build up the transportation network in the Middle East.

"It is not the first time that the US has been involved in a 'much said, little done' scenario," Zhou said.

During the Obama administration, then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced that the US would sponsor a "New Silk Road" that would emerge from Afghanistan to link the country with its neighbors to increase its economic potential, but the initiative never materialized.

"The Biden administration's Middle East infrastructure plan is an apparent effort to counter the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is entering its 10th year in 2023 with brought fruitful projects to partnering countries and regions. The Biden administration is again engaging in bloc politics in order to slow down China's development," Zhou said.

The recent moves by the US in the Middle East are more reactive than proactive, given China's stronger presence, Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Saturday.

China has been engaging with the Middle East through the BRI for years. Its peacemaker role in the Saudi-Iran detente is lauded by the international community, the countries in the region in particular, which has injected stability into the region.

In areas such as infrastructure construction, cooperation between the Gulf countries and China has advanced significantly in recent years. "It is impossible for the US to create a hedge in the short term," Liu said.

Zhou described the US plan as "more of a symbolic gesture." From a technical perspective, the US decision to focus on transport infrastructure, an area where it lacks expertise, in a bid to salvage its declining influence in the region, suggests that the highly touted plan is unlikely to be realized. 

"In terms of the technology and costs of building railways, no country in the world than China has a more prominent advantage. What the Middle Eastern countries want from the US is not just a railway, but also security. However, the US has neither provided nor been able to bring security to the region; instead, it has complicated the security situation there. This is the dilemma the US is facing in the Middle East," Ding Long, a professor with the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times.

For Middle Eastern countries that will participate in the US-led railway initiative, there is no concern that their ties with China will weaken just because of the deal, instead, they will continue maintaining close cooperation with the world's second-largest economy, Zhou said.

"In fact, the US' ability to influence its allies in the Middle East is shrinking, and Saudi Arabia and the UAE have recently joined the BRICS cooperation mechanism. I think the two countries will exercise prudence in the issue," Liu said.

"China welcomes all initiatives that can help pool synergy and promote global infrastructure development. Any calculation to advance geopolitics in the name of infrastructure development will win no support and will never succeed," a spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry said in June 2022 on the US' plan to roll out a new infrastructure plan to counter the China-proposed BRI.

There are no such thing as different initiatives countering or replacing each other. The world needs more bridges to be built rather than torn down, more connectivity rather than decoupling or building fences, and mutual benefits rather than isolation and exclusion, the spokesperson said.

A chaotic scene unfolded at the Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday afternoon as gunshots rang out near an upscale retail area, resulting in the tragic deaths of at least three people, according to Thai local media. The incident took place around 4.20pm local time.

Local police authorities reported the arrest of a 14-year-old male suspect, apprehended by police on the third floor of the nearby Siam Kempinski Hotel.

Security camera footage captured the suspect shooter, who was seen kneeling with his hands on his head as three police officers closed in on him. In a swift action, one of the officers subdued the suspect on the ground.

Several Chinese tourists near the scene of the shooting incident told the Chinese news outlet Southern Metropolis Daily that they had heard multiple gunshots, and many people were fleeing, as chaos gripped the area. 

The incident occurred near a high-end handbag store on the "M" level inside the building, Chinese media learned. A Chinese tourist who was in the vicinity told the South Metropolis Daily that both the Paragon and Siam Center malls were closed in the wake of the incident. They were initially trapped inside Siam Center, but have since been allowed to evacuate.

Another Chinese tourist was quoted as telling reporters that they were shopping inside Siam Paragon when they witnessed many tourists fleeing. Subsequently, while escaping, they heard multiple gunshots. 

“If I remember correctly, I heard three gunshots while I was running. I have now exited and am not entirely sure about the situation inside,” the tourist said. 

Thailand recently granted visa exemptions for Chinese nationals from September 25 to February 29, 2024 to boost local tourism. The temporary waiver is expected to attract five million additional visitors, according to media reports, citing Tourism Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin also welcomed Chinese tourists at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand on September 25.

According to the latest data from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), from January 1 to September 17, Thailand has hosted over 2.34 million Chinese tourists, approximately 37 percent of the same period in 2019.

One Chinese national was killed and another injured in the shooting incident in Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday, the China Central Television reported, citing information from the Chinese Embassy in Thailand.  

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not confirmed any details as of Tuesday evening. 

A number of Chinese netizens expressed their concern about whether it’s still safe to travel to Thailand, sharing their anxiety on Chinese Twitter-like Weibo platform on Tuesday, with news of the shooting incident attracting more than 32 million views on the platform. 

The Asia-Pacific Regional Director of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Alexander Matheous has described the situation of quake-affected people in west Afghanistan's Herat province as extremely impoverished, and said the body would continue to assist them.

"We will continue to provide relief items in the coming days. Our plan is to work with the Afghan Red Crescent on suitable shelters for the people to live in the short term," Matheous told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview.

The IFRC has already provided humanitarian assistance such as blankets, non-food items and hygiene kits, the official said, adding the affected families need more support.

The official who visited the quake-stricken areas in Herat also noted that the quake-affected people need support to rebuild their homes and live in the long term.

Two deadly quakes, each with a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale, followed by several aftershocks, rocked west Afghanistan with an epicenter in the Zanda Jan district of Herat province last Saturday, and left at least 2,053 dead and thousands more injured.

Another tremor measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted Herat on Wednesday, killing one person, injuring more than 150 others, and causing property damages.

"More than 2,000 people and over 2,000 homes are destroyed," the official said, adding most of the victims are women and children, and the affected families have lost what they had.

"People need food, water, shelter, medical camp...It was a very dramatic and tragic disaster for the people," the official told Xinhua.

Praising the contribution of the Afghan Red Crescent Society in tackling the problems of the quake-affected people, the official said that it was the first humanitarian organization to be present after the disaster.

"We will support the Afghan Red Crescent to work not just in this relief phase, but also in the months to come to rebuild the houses and people's livelihoods," Matheous emphasized.

"The most famous classic novel of China, A Journey to the West, as a matter of fact, is one of the few that have been translated and dubbed using Greenlandic voices for our national broadcasting TV. This shows that even though we are very far away from each other, we can build a bridge and a common future with mutual understanding and efforts," said Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenlandic minister for statehood and foreign affairs, at the official opening of the Greenlandic Representation on Monday at the Royal Danish Embassy in Beijing.  

The reception was attended by the Danish Ambassador to China Thomas Østrup Møller, Greenlandic Minister for Statehood and Foreign Affairs Vivian Motzfeldt, head of the Greenland Representation in Beijing Jacob Isbosethsen, as well as other ministers and ambassadors. 

"Royal Greenland has been present in Qingdao for 20 years now. Other companies, like Polar Seafood have also contributed a lot in exports and trade with China," Motzfeldt said. 

She expressed her gratitude to the Chinese government and the Chinese People's Institute for Foreign Affairs for the cooperation between Greenland and China. 

In addition, the Danish Embassy held an insightful seminar on tourism on Tuesday at the Greenland Representation in Beijing. 

In her opening speech at the event, Motzfeldt emphasized the importance of tourism to the Greenlandic economy. 

"The Government of Greenland has invested a lot in a new tourism policy and strategy. The Parliament and Government have decided to expand the runways and build three new airports in Nuuk, Ilulissat, and Qagortoq," she told the Global Times. 

Air Greenland CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen, head of Visa and Consular Affairs at the Royal Danish Embassy Charlotte Duelund, Polar Club 66 Co Ltd director Joe Chan, and other guests also introduced Greenlandic gastronomy, beautiful Arctic Circle, and other practical travel tips. 

Siyabonga Cwele, South African Ambassador to China, attended the Third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) held from June 29 to July 2, 2023 in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province. The Expo themed "Common Development for a Shared Future,"was co-sponsored by China's Ministry of Commerce and the government of Hunan Province. 

Ambassador Cwele also attended other events held within the Third CAETE, such as the China-Africa Sanitary and Phytosanitary Cooperation Forum, the China-Africa Fair for Investment and Trade on Light Industry Products(Fashion Products), and the Hunan-Africa Products and Tourism Matchmaking Conference, and delivered speeches respectively.

Ambassador Cwele gave a presentation at the China-Africa Fair for Investment and Trade on Light Industry Products(Fashion Products). 

He said, "In the past three years, the volume of bilateral trade in light industry goods between South Africa and China has increased by 30 percent. China has a strong manufacturing industry with rich technologies and experience, and diverse light industry products. South Africa on the other hand has good infrastructure, a mature investment environment, and a world-class financial and legal system. There is a great potential and much opportunity for further cooperation in trade and investment between our two countries in the light industry."

At the Hunan-Africa Products and Tourism Matchmaking Conference, Cwele indicated that on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the bilateral relations between South Africa and China in 2023, he looked forward to welcoming more Chinese tourists to South Africa to experience and enjoy a new lifestyle, and to bring more vitality to the market. 

Cwele also participated in the Online Shopping Festival Featuring Quality African Products at the third CAETE. 

At the event, the ambassador promoted high-quality products from South Africa such as Rooibos tea, wine, Aloe Vera, and products from the rest of Africa via livestreaming, which increased the exposure of African products and provided an opportunity for Chinese consumers to get a better understanding of the products being showcased.

During the Vietnam War, the US used cluster bombs to carry out airstrikes on targets in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Between 1964 and 1973, 260 million tons of cluster bombs were dropped on Laos, particularly in the Xieng Khouang Province in northeastern Laos, of which 80 million tons failed to detonate. In Quang Tri Province in Vietnam alone, some 7,000 people were injured or killed by cluster bombs left over from the Vietnam War as of 2009.

Retired US Air Force officer Mike Burton, the board chairman of Legacies of War, an organization that raises awareness about the history of the bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War, now chairs the US Campaign to Ban Landmines & Cluster Munitions Coalition. 

In April, Burton expressed regret at dropping cluster bombs on Laos in the US' "secret war" in an opinion piece published on USA Today, warning that "Ukraine shouldn't want this nightmare."

"All that was accomplished by using these inhumane weapons was to leave a trail of destruction that remains to this day, and a deep sense of regret for US veterans like myself," stated Burton in the piece.

Burton joined the US Air Force in 1962 and spent the early part of his military career in special operations. He was assigned to the 56th Air Commando Wing in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, in 1966. "The primary mission of the units to which I was assigned was to stop the flow of personnel and materials coming from North Vietnam through the Ho Chi Minh Trail to South Vietnam. The trail was located almost entirely in Laos," he explained. "Despite the 2.5 million tons of ordnance that the US dropped from 1964 to 1973, it did nothing to impede traffic along the Ho Chi Minh Trail."

"I saw this destruction firsthand from the air and on the ground. I have seen Lao children and adults with missing limbs, eyes, and mutilated faces all from unexploded ordnance. The impact of our decision to drop cluster bombs on Laos also found its way to the US with waves of refugees fleeing death," he noted.

Burton regrets what he did during the Vietnam War, and hopes that similar tragedies will never happen again in the future.

Burton later took part in the detonation of some of the unexploded ordnances - work that is tedious, time consuming, and extremely dangerous. "It's done in some of the most vulnerable areas where families are only a few steps away" as he said.

During the Vietnam War, the US dropped millions of tons of bombs on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, including large amounts of cluster munitions, burying the region in unexploded ordnance (UXOs). UXOs still kill or maim dozens of people each year in nations such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Thousands have died or have been seriously maimed since the US-led war ended in 1975.

UXOs have also proven to be an obstacle to regional development. For example, when China constructed Laos' first high-speed rail line, connecting China's southern city of Kunming to Laos' capital in Vientiane on the border with Thailand, engineers were initially required to clear the railway path of US-dropped UXOs, including cluster munitions.

Burton believes that the US supply of cluster bombs to Ukraine would have catastrophic consequences that would haunt Americans and Ukrainians for decades, saying that he doesn't "want it to happen again."

The Investment Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey held a reception at the Turkish Embassy in Beijing with the aim of boosting investment cooperation with China. The event, as a part of their "Turkish Century Investment Reception" series, saw more than 500 business people and investors from China's leading companies to attend. 

Turkish Ambassador to China Ismail Hakkı Musa, President of the Investment Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Ahmet Burak Daglioglu, and the Silk Road Fund Chairwoman Zhu Jun were also in attendance. 

"This year, we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey and the 52nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Turkey and China. From e-commerce to telecommunications, from renewable energy to electric vehicles, from cloud technology to the defense industry, we have forged new partnerships with China in a wide range of areas," the ambassador said. 

In addition, the guests sampled sumptuous Turkish cuisine and discussed cooperation and investment opportunities.