Hear the voice of Shaanxi

Terra-Cotta Warriors, Xifeng liquor, yangrou paomo, and Big Goose Pagoda, these are the cultural cards that Shaanxi province in northwestern China has played well since ancient times.

To broaden their appeal to a wider global audience, the Shaanxi Provincial Office of Cyberspace Affairs Commission launched a media tour on June 12, inviting some 50 Chinese and overseas journalists from China’s major media agencies to map out their footsteps throughout the province in the upcoming 15 days.

Bao Yongneng, director of the provincial office of cyberspace affairs commission, extended his best wishes to the event. He said in light of China implementing the reform and opening-up policy for 40 years and the Belt and Road Initiative running smoothly for five years, he hoped the media group would bring out their advantages, making Shaanxi stories become more well-known on the international stage.

Ole Engelhardt, a German journalist who speaks fluent Chinese, pledged on behalf of all his media partners to infuse their true feelings into the stories.

“I’m looking forward to this ‘close encounter’ with Shaanxi, an iconic region of China with 3,000 years of history; and I will try my best to make Shaanxi voices reach out to my motherland,” Engelhardt said.

At the themed forum held following, masterminds from the mainstream media shared their insights into how they have sought changes and innovation in the face of China’s ever-changing communication environment.

Han Lei, editor-in-chief of the China Daily Website, exemplified four “integrations” that she thought would be good to promote Shaanxi, such as the blend of Shaanxi’s historical and modern aspects, and the “choruses” between Shaanxi government and the general public.

She said embracing a modernized, intelligent and younger world, and focusing the stories on people, culture and innovation would be of greater appeal to readers. Shaanxi would not only speak for itself, but also invite the outside world to join in and voice out.

The media group started their tour in Xi’an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi, where Chan-Ba, an ecological district sitting at the city’s northeastern corner, was their first stop. The area, which was named after Xi’an’s two main mother rivers of Chanhe and Bahe, has been praised as a land of prosperity and auspiciousness throughout the ages.

However, the once flourishing area has faded out of people’s eyes and even became a severe polluted area covered by sewage water, garbage and sand dredging before the local government decided to take action.

Cheng Bin, vice director of the Chan-Ba administrative committee, said the local government set up its mind in 2004 to regenerate the area.

With river treatment and ecological construction rigorously driving its development, Chan-Ba in recent years has taken on a brand new look – home to 40 more species of birds, establishing the first national wetland park in Northwest China, successfully hosting the 2011 Xi’an International Horticultural Exposition, being the permanent conference site for the Euro-Asia Economic Forum, and the Xi’an Silk Road International Convention and Exhibition Center being under construction.

Chan-Ba is rapidly developing. The ecological, modern and international district is now the “most livable area” in many Xi’an people’s eyes.