International volunteers work to renovate a wooden structure in Xifang Temple, Pingyao county, during the Gen Z workshop.

International delegates of the International Cultural Heritage Protection Week visit Jinci Temple in Taiyuan on July 15.

International delegates visit Shanxi Museum during the International Cultural Heritage Protection Week.

The Light of Yungang show is held at the Yuci Ancient City Wall Park in Jinzhong on July 15.

Members of the Discovering Shanxi's Chinese Ancient Architecture tour visit a wooden structures exhibition in Datong.

A model of a dougong bracket on show at a museum in Datong.

Delegates share insights into cultural heritage protection during a roundtable meeting on July 16.

Delegates attend the opening ceremony of the International Cultural Heritage Protection Week in Yuci Ancient City, Jinzhong, on July 15.

China Daily journalist Joe Burns shares his insights during a cultural salon on July 19.

The International Cultural Heritage Protection Week, which opened in Shanxi on July 15, once again put the North China province on the global stage.

According to the Shanxi International Communication Center, one of the organizers of this event, the activity gained 830 million online views over the seven days. This included 680 million views from China and 150 million views from overseas.

The rich forms of presentation, the participation of a great number of overseas delegates and the innovative methods of communication all contributed to building the international influence of the event, according to organizers.

The opening ceremony was held in Yuci Ancient City in the central Shanxi city of Jinzhong on July 15. It featured a range of shows with local characteristics and innovative forms.

Red Lantern, for instance, is a traditional folk dance performance displaying the folk arts and traditions of Shanxi, while the dance drama Shanxi: A Land of Scenic Beauty was performed with the province's enticing natural wonders as its backdrop.

Meanwhile, The Light of Yungang, a light show using modern techniques, was used to present the details of the Yungang Grottoes, one of three UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites in Shanxi, to audiences both offline and online.

Among the global participants attending the event were ambassadors and their attaches from six countries, and 200-plus delegates. They included representatives from various organizations of the United Nations, overseas Sinologists, cultural heritage researchers, artists and journalists, as well as overseas professionals working with China's universities and research institutions.

A grand gala

The overseas delegates held dialogues with their Chinese counterparts, sharing insights into cultural heritage protection and exchanges among various cultures and civilizations, making the International Cultural Heritage Protection Week an event with substantial international influence.

Over the seven days, participants engaged in various activities, including academic seminars and roundtable meetings, study tours of cultural heritage sites, experiences of local life, youth workshops and the production of video documentaries.

Md. Nazmul Islam, Bangladesh's ambassador to China, attended the opening ceremony of the event and delivered a speech.

"It is of great significance to discuss cooperation in cultural heritage protection in Shanxi, which is, undoubtedly, one of the cradles of Chinese civilization," he said in the speech.

Islam spoke highly of the World Cultural Heritage Sites in Shanxi, including the Ancient City of Pingyao, the Yungang Grottoes and Mount Wutai. He said that these are the precious cultural assets not only for China but for the entire world. "They carry the cultural values that (are) worth sharing, spreading and studying throughout the international community."

Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, associate professor at Brazil's Universidade Federal Fluminense and visiting professor at University of Macau, also praised Shanxi's efforts in protecting and revitalizing its cultural heritage in his speech at the opening ceremony.

"As a core part of Chinese civilization, Shanxi is an excellent example of the dynamic inheritance of cultural heritage, meaning that the ancient culture is alive in local life," Carvalho said. "In ancient towns and villages, the old buildings are still offering habitats for modern-day residents and folk traditions are still a part of local life."

"This shows cultural heritage is not only a resource of the past but also something that can be passed down to the future," he added.

Based on on-site research, Chinese and foreign experts shared their wisdom at three roundtable conferences focusing on international cooperation on heritage protection, cultural heritage inheritance among the youth and international communications.

Among the activities, a roundtable conference for the younger-generation — or Gen Z — researchers attracted attention in this era of digitalization, as the participants highlighted how to use the latest technologies to protect cultural assets in Shanxi and promote them to the world.

After attending the roundtable meeting on international cooperation, Pablo Mendoza, a Sinologist from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, praised the professionalism of the event.

"This is a valuable and significant platform for cross-cultural exchanges," Mendoza said. "The frank dialogues and in-depth discussions among heritage protection professionals from different countries and regions have created a bridge for mutual learning and cooperation among various cultures."

Journey of discovery

A tour to explore Shanxi's sites of ancient architecture was an important part of the event. Dozens of visual artists, bloggers, journalists and researchers took part.

The group traveled through Taiyuan, Jinzhong, Xinzhou, Shuozhou and Datong, documenting heritage sites and local life through reports, photos, videos and paintings.

The itinerary included landmarks such as Jinci Temple, Foguang Temple, Xuankong Temple, the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, the Yungang Grottoes and Huayan Temple. The sites ranged from ancient wooden structures and cliffside architecture to Buddhist cave art.

A team of reporters from TeleSUR, a multimedia platform based in Venezuela, was among the group. They produced two in-depth reports to cover Shanxi's ancient architectural sites, arousing interest in Shanxi's ancient culture among audiences in Latin America.

Usov Artem, a Russian blogger, showed great interest in Xuankong Temple — or the Hanging Temple — in Hunyuan county, Datong. His short video featuring the structuring techniques and the unique aesthetics of this globally renowned temple has garnered more than 10 million views on his social media accounts.

The Hanging Temple also left a strong impression on Moroccan video content creator Fatima Zahra. Drawing on her experience producing travel content for overseas audiences, Zahra said striking images often catch viewers' attention and encourage them to learn more about a place and its culture.

Several artists on the journey recorded their impressions in sketches and paintings. German illustrator and new media artist Anja Nolte focused on rooflines, dougong brackets, dragon motifs and decorative animal figures, including a small study of the Hanging Temple.

Chinese painter Li Zhengming said Shanxi's ancient buildings conveyed a strong sense of solemnity and historical depth. Li was struck by the relationship between the Hanging Temple and its mountain setting, saying that experiencing the structure on site revealed connections among architecture, geography and culture that books and screens could not fully convey.

Speaking at a cultural salon held during the tour, Song Yi, dean of the School of International Journalism and Communication at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said international creators often bring different visual languages, narrative rhythms and points of focus. Song said their perspectives could make Shanxi's heritage more accessible to overseas audiences.

During the journey, participants used photography, drawing and video to record different dimensions of Shanxi's heritage, from conservation work and timber construction to architectural details and daily life along the historical streets.

Two prior events

Back in June, two international events focusing on ancient architectural assets were held in Shanxi. They functioned as the preludes to the International Cultural Heritage Protection Week in July.

In mid-June, Xifang Temple — a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) building complex in Xiqiang village of Pingyao — hosted a team of cultural heritage protection volunteers who came to restore historical structures.

The group of 20-plus members was there to take part in a Gen Z construction workshop for architectural heritage protection. Gen Z refers to people born between the mid-1990s and the mid-2010s. The volunteers were from China, France and Spain.

The 10-day event starting from June 14 was organized by the Shanxi International Communication Center, the Shanghai Ruan Yisan Heritage Foundation, the French voluntary organization REMPART and the government of Pingyao.

The Gen Z workshop is a long-term cultural exchange program between Pingyao and the rest of the world.

In 2011, the Shanghai Ruan Yisan Heritage Foundation began to cooperate with REMPART, introducing the international workshop for heritage protection to the Shanxi county of Pingyao.

Over the past 15 years, more than 200 overseas volunteers have participated in this program. They have taken part in some major heritage protection projects, including the renovation of the ancient city walls of Pingyao and a number of ancient building repair projects in the county's rural areas.

The program was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers Initiative in 2025.

On June 16, a group of 23 Hungarian artists arrived in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, beginning a 13-day journey to sketch ancient buildings in Shanxi.

The event covered seven Shanxi cities: Taiyuan, Xinzhou, Shuozhou, Datong, Jinzhong, Linfen and Lyuliang.

The tour members visited a dozen ancient architectural and heritage sites — including Jinci Temple and the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda — in these cities.

At the end of the tour, the artists left some of their works in Shanxi for exhibition, especially at the China (Shanxi)-Hungary Exchange Center for Arts. The center, located at the Taiyuan-based Shanxi University School of Fine Arts, was first opened during the trip.

The artists' trip went viral on several short video platforms in partnership with the Shanxi International Communication Center, one of the organizers of the event, garnering interest from people in both China and Hungary.

Media coverage

The International Cultural Heritage Protection Week, as well as its related events, has proven to be one of the most influential international cultural communication events for Shanxi.

According to the organizers, the events were covered by a dozen national news groups including People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, China Daily and China National Radio, as well as the country's major news portals including Sina, Tencent News and Toutiao.com.

The local Shanxi Daily media group published more than 100 reports on the events. Its Weibo content with the hashtag Unity for Prosperity, Heritage for Eternity, which was the theme of the event, obtained more than 280 million views.

An organizing official noted that the event's nine themed exhibitions had attracted more than 3 million offline visits. It had also generated a "large volume of organic sharing".

He explained that nowadays, visitors to exhibitions, especially young people, tend to share their experiences on their social media platforms. "Just imagine the influence generated from the millions of visitors," the official said.

In terms of international communication, the event has been promoted to the international community via the online platforms of 20-plus national and provincial-level media groups, as well as their overseas partners.

Statistics from the Shanxi International Communication Center show that, by July 23, the event had secured 150 million views from overseas audiences, accompanied by a large number of likes, comments and shares.