A group photo of the sketching delegation at the Slender West Lake

       “Weeping willows span the lake and you can appreciate the most beautiful scenery at the top of the Small Gold Mountain (Xiao Jin Shan).” The China Artists Association organized a delegation consisted of artists coming from China, Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine, Estonia, Armenia, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Mongolia to visit the Slender West Lake at the invitation of the City Celebration Office, the Communist Youth League Yangzhou Municipal Party Committee, Yangzhou Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Research Institute on Clean and Honest Government Cultural Creation. After the reception activities for the foreign artists of the 6^thBeijing International Art Biennale, around 10 representatives of selected artists coming from countries along the Belt and Road and several Chinese artists participated into the “Sketch Activity in Yangzhou by Artists from Home and Abroad under the Organization of the China Artists Association” to celebrate the 2500^th Anniversary of Yangzhou City. All these foreign artists came to Yangzhou for the first time and they visited famous scenic spots and places of historical interest, appreciated the traditional performance and created many sketch works during the activity from September, 27 to September 30. Their works described the luxuriant natural and humanistic features of Yangzhou and the harmonious art exchange between China and foreign countries.

The city of Yangzhou is not only known as “the famous city at the east of Huainan or a splendid place represented by the Zhu Xi Ting”, it is also called the “Moon City”. Chinese and foreign artists got together in Yangzhou on the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, which is an undersigned coincidence with the fame of “Moon City”. The cheerful atmosphere of city celebration infected every artist there. Under the extraordinary arrangement of the organizer of the activity, the sketching delegation visited the Ge Garden, He Garden, the Slender West Lake, the Dongguan Street, the Canal and other representative scenic spots in succession. Wandering around the exquisite and elegant Chinese garden and moving from scenery to scenery, artists can’t help admiring the ingenuity of construction of structures and subtle and unique aesthetic taste in oriental culture. When they are exposed to the bustling long street of ancient culture, it seemed that they go beyond the boundary of time and space and make dialogue with history. Strolling along the ancient canal and appreciating the places of historical interests standing on two sides of the bank, artists can’t refrain from expressing their admiration for those ancient people who excavated the canal to connect south and north China under extremely difficult conditions. Everywhere they went, they would take out paper and painting tools to sketch for the scenery for several hours and several sketch works in a row and even under drizzling weather they still concentrated on their works without stopping. Facing the same scenery, Chinese and foreign artist presented different perspectives, techniques for expression , styles and features which formed an interesting contrast and comparison that need to be further tasted and would definitely promote the artistic exchange between China and foreign countries.

And every now and then, artists expressed their praise for the delicious food and brilliant scenery in Yangzhou. The graceful and charming city inspired their enthusiasm for creation. They appreciated the beauty of the water town at the south of lower reaches of the Yangtze River, felt the unique and massive natural features and cultural richness and touched the most representative Chinese historical memories, which echoed with the slogan of city celebration, that is, “Yangzhou, a 2500-year-old city breeds the splendid civilization and poetic and pictorial conception”.

When Zhu Minyang, mayor of Yangzhou met Liu Dawei, Chairman of the China Artists Association, he expressed that Yangzhou can be compared to a book, a never-ending book which you would like to read again and again. He hoped that Chinese artists and foreign artists would present the beautiful Yangzhou to the outside world with their artistic languages and he also hoped that the China Artists Association would pay more attention to Yangzhou and support its cultural development. Liu Dawei, Chairman of the China Artists Association said that Yangzhou has been the center for cultural creation and cultural exchange since ancient times and the world-famous “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou” is an outstanding group of eight Chinese painters in Chinese cultural history. Their countless artworks were widespread and registered high in Chinese cultural history. The “Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou” were in favor of innovative style which was inherited by many painters of later generation. Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Pan Tianshou and other great masters of traditional Chinese painting were infected by them and established their own style, which can be taken as the outstanding contribution that Yangzhou made for the development of modern art in China. The history of Jianzhen, a Chinese monk who attempted to visit Japan to propagate Buddhism can be traced back to Tang Dynasty in Yangzhou, which showcased the important position of Yangzhou in cultural exchange between China and foreign countries. As a result, Yangzhou is “a place for pilgrim” for artists. Liu Dawei, Chairman of the China Artists Association hoped that Yangzhou would further give full play of its advantages in modern times and attract more talents in art to become the center for art creation and cultural exchange.

Tao Qin, Vice Secretary General of the China Artists Association specially pointed out that the theme of the 6th Beijing Biennale is “Memory and Dream” while Yangzhou happens to be a city that bears the memories of the nation and its dreams towards the future. As the first batch of national historical and cultural city, a national civilized city, winner of the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award and the birthplace of the Canal which is also on the World Heritage List, Yangzhou boasted of traditional advantages and splendid achievements in historical and cultural deposits. When she recalled the 2^nd Beijing Biennale, she remembered many foreign artists expressed that after they visited the Mount Huang: “Only when we come to China and appreciate the amazing scenery like the Mount Huang can we truly understand China and the charm of the traditional Chinese water and ink painting. The China Artists Association took the opportunity of the opening ceremony of the 6^th Beijing Biennale to invite parts of the Chinese and foreign artist to participate into the sketch activity, which not only responded to the “Belt and Road” Initiative and the philosophy of “Community of Common Destiny for All Mankind”, but also it is hoped to present the beautiful Yangzhou by paint brush. It is expected that the “Story of China” can be told by others outside China and make them understand the connotation of the “China Dream”. In so doing, mutual understanding can be further deepened and it will also prepare for the exhibition of the “China in the Eyes of Foreign Artists” while promoting the artistic exchange between China and foreign countries.

Gryte Pintukaite, an artist from Lithuania expressed her sincere gratitude for the generous hospitality of the China Artists Association and the organizers of the sketch activity in Yangzhou. She specially mentioned that she knew little of China and didn’t visit many cities in China in the past, but after the activity, she got to know and deeply understand a lot about the long-standing history of China and its brilliant cultural traditions. She said that after she came back to her home country, she would tell everything she saw and heard in China to her friends and let more people be interested in China’s history and culture. She expressed that she would frequently come to China later to further understand the ancient and modern country.

    On the evening of Sep.29, Tao Qin, Vice Secretary General of the China Artists Association, Liu Zhong, Director of the International Liaison Department of the China Artists Association and Li Yang, Deputy Dean of the Department of Chinese Painting of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts visited the Youth Activity Center accompanied by She Junchen, Secretary of the Communist Youth League Yangzhou Municipal Party Committee. They visited the training gymnasium, the book bar, the studio of innovation and wisdom, the dream theatre and other functional area under the guidance of the working staff there. During the visit, She Junchen, Secretary of the Communist Youth League Yangzhou Municipal Party Committee introduced the features of the structure, the positions of different functional area, the environment layout, the functions and future prospect of the Youth Activity Center in detail. Tao Qin, Vice Secretary of the China Artists Association highly praised that Yangzhou had always attached great importance to the development of Youth and expressed appreciation for the construction and operation of the Youth Activity Center. She thought that the construction of the Youth Activity Center took scientific, rational and artistic requirement into consideration and it consisted of ingenuity in its design that is commendable. She hoped that they can bring more Chinese and foreign artists to come to Yangzhou to provide more guidance and help for the improvement of literary and artistic sensitivity of the youngsters. At the end of the sketch activity, the Chinese and foreign artists wrote down their best wishes for the future development of the Youth Activity Center and they all hoped that it would cultivate more all-round highly competent talents.