With the ongoing International Culture Industry Summit and the Gansu Cultural Expo, Gansu Province presents its well preserved traditions and products of cultural innovation to the world.

Decorated with numerous fragrant bags adorned with delicate embroidery and imbued with rhythmic drumming beats, the Gansu International Convention and Exhibition Center in downtown Lanzhou, Gansu Province, has become a mini land demonstrating the daily life of its local people, especially the minorities, across the area’s different regions.

Thanks to the Sixth Gansu Culture Expo, which started on September 7, 2013, together with the Second International Culture Industry Summit co-hosted by the Asia-Pacific CEO Association (APCEO) and the Gansu Government, people are able to view Gansu’s well-preserved cultural heritage during a one-day tour of the Lanzhou’s city center.

According to Liu Weiping, governor of Gansu Province, the event takes place amid the lingering impact of the global financial crisis and aims to turn culture into a new driving force behind the economic recovery and restructuring.

A key station on the ancient Silk Road and a cradle for an agrarian culture dating back almost 8,000 years, Gansu is trying to shake off poverty by relying on its cultural development. In doing so, it is looking for international cooperation.

“The International Culture Industry Summit, a showcase for cultural achievements, aims to make a good use of the world’s cultural industry resources and provides an opportunity for Gansu to promote its own developments in this respect,” said Liu.

According to the Gansu Government, the event is not only limited to international cooperation; it also serves as a window for the world to see the ancient hinterland’s efforts in cultural innovation.

Ouyang Jian, deputy secretary of the Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) of Gansu Province, said, “The event will not only have an impact on cultural cooperation across different countries and regions; it will also contribute Gansu’s efforts in building China’s cultural innovation zones.”

Adhering to its “Culture” theme, the event has attracted many overseas guests such as Ziad Aldrees, vice chairman of the Executive Committee of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“It is always with great pleasure and increasing optimism each time I’m invited to any international meetings dealing with culture,” said Aldress.

He expressed his concern over the over commercialized world and encourages efforts in cultural development.

“The tendency of the world is not limited to what we eat, but also to what we believe and what we appreciate,” he said.

His words are echoed by Eng. Roberto Mugavero, professor at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata,” said, “[The event] is a good opportunity to represent the real life and ancient tradition of [Gansu] to strangers,” he said.

Mugavero has visited different places of China many times already and can tell the customs and traditions demonstrated in Lanzhou truly represent the daily life in different parts of China.

He is probably right. Zhang Xu, an 40-plus Gansu native who is skilled at paper cutting, may prove a sound example. Under her dexterous use of scissors, pieces of red paper have been cut into different shapes such as peacocks, mountainous sceneries and rockets.

“I learned the art of paper cutting from my grandma when I was 10 years old,” Zhang said, “I didn’t finish primary school, so I don’t know how to paint. But I can express something with my paper cuttings,” she added. The cultural heritage forms only one aspect of the exposition.

The ongoing event also features modern cultural products, including the handsets and electronic books invented by Gansu’s Readers Magazine.

According to Zhang Enchao, an employee with the Gansu Digital and Technological Co. Ltd. of Readers Group, the magazine is making every possible effort to transform its printed business into digital models. It will create a Cloud Library by the end of this year.

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