Made with just paper and wooden sticks, a fanlihua, or paper flip flower, transforms with a gentle twist to reveal playful shapes, such as a Chinese dragon or an ice cream cone. They became popular during a Charming Beijing activity in Morocco on Nov 4 and 5.
The popularity began a few days earlier, when the event stopped in Cairo on Nov 1 and 2. The culture and tourism promotion includes youth dialogues, a speech contest, documentary screenings, cultural salons, and an exhibition of BAIC Group vehicles.
The Morocco event was organized by the Beijing Information Office and Mohammed V University (UM5) in Rabat.
On Nov 4, the signing and inauguration ceremony of the China-Morocco Cultural and Tourism Cooperation Research Center was held at the Confucius Institute of UM5. The center is jointly established by UM5 and Beijing International Studies University (BISU).
Kalima Yatribi, president of the Confucius Institute, noted that the Morocco-China cultural exchanges have been deepened thanks to enthusiastic youth participation.
Cheng Wei, vice-president of BISU, highlighted her university's relationship with the Arab world. "The university has long committed itself to training Arabic-language professionals and advancing global research on the Middle East and the Arab world," she said. "It has built a portfolio of influential people-to-people exchange platforms, including the International Forum for Arab Studies, the China-Arab cultural and tourism cooperation conference, the International Symposium on China-Morocco cultural and educational exchanges, the China-Arab Poetry Conference, and the Middle East carnival."
The Confucius Institute and the BISU School (Morocco), jointly developed with UM5, have emerged as exemplary models for China-Morocco educational, cultural, and tourism cooperation.
Video by Chen Yixi, Beijing, Beijing International Studies University, and the Dongcheng Converged Media Center.
