Shanxi Reaches Out to Germany, France

From September 11 to 15, Wang Aiqin, director of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, led a delegation to Germany and France for a series of cultural tourism promotion and exchange events. With China's 5,000-year-old civilization as its backdrop, the tour aimed to build bridges for cultural tourism cooperation between Shanxi and Europe and bring the province's tourism resources to European markets.

On September 12 local time, the "Discover 5,000 Years of Civilization in Shanxi — China Shanxi (Berlin) Culture and Tourism Promotion Conference" was held at the Hilton Berlin. It was attended by visitBerlin, TMB Tourismus-Marketing Brandenburg, Berlin tourism and tour guide associations, and representatives of local cultural tourism businesses, travel agencies and media outlets.

In her speech, Wang said that although China and Germany are separated by mountains and seas, the two countries share cultural affinities and their peoples feel close to one another, and the two great civilizations have long admired and enriched each other. Shanxi, a major birthplace of Chinese civilization, is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Yungang Grottoes, the Ancient City of Ping Yao and Mount Wutai. It also has 531 Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level, the most of any province in China. She said she looked forward to deepening practical cooperation with Germany's tourism industry, co-developing tourism products and exchanging tourists, so that the splendor of Shanxi's ancient architecture can enter into dialogue with Germany's culture of craftsmanship. Dr. Peter Kreutzberger, a senior diplomat of the Federal Republic of Germany and former German Consul General in Shenyang, attended the event and delivered a speech.

At the conference, Zhang Jian, assistant general manager of Shanxi Baohua Shengshi International Travel Service (Baohua International Travel), gave a presentation on the province's geography as a land girded by mountains and the Yellow River. He also highlighted Shanxi's more than 28,000 surviving ancient buildings, three rare surviving timber buildings from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and more than 100 kinds of Shanxi noodles and wheat-based dishes, painting a vivid picture of Shanxi as a "museum without walls." During the event, Baohua International Travel signed a cooperation agreement with OceanStu, under which the two sides will continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation in cultural tourism. Outside the venue, intangible cultural heritage crafts and creative products from Shanxi were on display, including lacquer screens, Shangdang Duijin (layered silk brocade), paper-cutting and shadow puppets. Their fine workmanship and vivid colors drew many guests to stop and admire them.

On September 15 local time, Shanxi appeared at IFTM Top Resa 2026, the international travel trade show in Paris. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the China Pavilion, Wang said Shanxi and France share cultural affinities and a close friendship. She expressed hope that, using the show as an important platform, the two sides would work together to co-develop tourism products, exchange tourists, co-create tourism IP and co-promote brands. She extended a sincere welcome to travelers from around the world to visit Shanxi, a land girded by mountains and the Yellow River, and experience the charm of ancient Chinese civilization.

That afternoon, a dedicated Shanxi cultural tourism promotion session was held in Hall 1 of Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. The program included a French-language promotional video, a themed presentation and an interactive Q&A. During the trade show's business meetings, the Shanxi booth drew strong interest, and members of France's cultural tourism industry held in-depth talks with the Shanxi delegation on tourism product development, tourist exchanges and cultural and creative industries.

During the trip, the delegation also visited visitBerlin, the China National Tourist Office in Berlin, Atout France and the China National Tourist Office in Paris. It held practical consultations with them on tourist exchanges, joint development of tourism products and the establishment of regular cooperation mechanisms.

At the Paris promotion session, performers staged Xiaoyi shadow puppetry and puppet theater, an item of national-level intangible cultural heritage. As performer Wu Weijuan's fingers flew, her puppet switched between several facial masks in an instant, in a dazzling display of color and nimble movement. Steeped in Eastern charm, the performance brought Shanxi's European tour to a spectacular close.

Shanxi is a land girded by mountains and the Yellow River: the Taihang and Lüliang mountains encircle the province, and the river surges through its territory. The province has 53,875 surviving immovable cultural relic sites. The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is the world's tallest surviving ancient all-wood pagoda. More than 2,800 ancient opera stages are scattered across its towns and villages, the most of any province in China. And 27 of the 36 real-world locations featured in the hit video game Black Myth: Wukong are in Shanxi. Five thousand years of civilization are etched into every brick and tile, and live on in every opera performance and every bowl of noodles.

In February this year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited China, advancing the China-Germany all-round strategic partnership. In April, the event "Transforming Shanxi: Energy Revolution, Emerging Industries and International Cooperation" was showcased at the "Invest in China" pavilion at Hannover Messe, presenting Shanxi's transformation and innovation to the world. The Berlin promotion, meanwhile, presented Europe with Shanxi's ancient civilization and profound heritage. China and France established diplomatic relations more than 60 years ago, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two sides go back a long way. In early summer this year, the exhibition "Confluences and Fusion: East-West Cultural Exchanges in the Yungang Grottoes" opened in Paris, bringing the thousand-year-old smiles of the Yungang Buddhas across mountains and seas to French audiences.

"Friendship between the people holds the key to sound state-to-state relations, and heart-to-heart communication holds the key to friendship between the people," Wang said. She extended a sincere invitation to friends from all walks of life in Germany and France to visit Shanxi, discover its ancient Chinese civilization and enjoy the scenery of San Jin, as the province is historically known. Across vast lands, the two-way journey continues, and a new chapter in the cultural tourism story between Shanxi and Europe is unfolding.