Guangdong-HK-Macau cultural tour starts from here

Grace Yu

The annual youth cultural tour kicked off in Macau yesterday, with 120 college students from three regions (Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau) gathering to visit different sites in Macau.
The Tertiary Education Services Office (GAES), the Department of Culture Guangdong Province, and the Home Affairs Bureau of Hong Kong are the joint organizers of the event.
Organizers expressed the hope that university students from the three regions would take this chance to learn more about cultural characters and the various places, and to recognize new aspects of their own country and its culture. The organizing institutions also hope to boost exchanges between students and cultural integration amongst people from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.
Mr Gu Min Qiang, vice inspector of the Guangdong Province Department of Culture, said yesterday that a close relationship has been built through the joint cooperation of Guangdong, HK and Macau over the cultural and creative industries. He mentioned that, during a meeting held in June, the three regions reached a consensus on 50 culture-related projects considered worth visiting.
Students began their journey by following the “East Meets West” tour. This involved visiting the St. Augustine’s Square, the St. Joseph’s Seminary and Church, the Lilau Square, the A-Ma Temple, and the Macau Maritime Museum. They also visited the Handover Gifts Museum and creative industries initiator 10 Fantasia-a, amongst other venues that allowed them a taste of the cultural characteristics of Macau.
On Friday, students will move on to HK, after which they will stop at well-known historical and cultural sites in Foshan and Guangzhou in Guangdong province. They will also continue on their journey to the neighboring province of Hunan, where PRC’s founder Mao Zedong was born.
A welcome luncheon was held at the Star World Hotel, where students also performed dramatic works, dances and instrumental pieces. The ten-day tour will end on July 18.
Having begun in 2009, this is the 6th edition of the cross-region cultural tour. Last year the event was extended to include HK, where some 140 students joined.