China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Host city makes guests feel welcome
As part of Xiamen’s preparations for the BRICS Summit, a double-decker bus has been broadcasting melodies written and composed by local residents all across the city to spread its reputation for friendship and hospitality.
As the bus circles Xiamen Island on the ring road, onlookers add their voices as well. Anyone scanning a QR code with their smartphone can get the lyrics in Mandarin, English and the southern Fujian dialect.
“The bus is close to our daily life, so it’s a good way to spread culture,” said musician Yang Mu, who helped launch the program. He contributed more than 30 songs to the project.
Yang, originally from Taiwan, settled in the city in 2013, and has penned many songs dedicated to his beloved city.
“Adorable Xiamen is like a song,” he said. It is also among the lyrics from a recent work of his frequently heard in the city’s streets these days.
Arrivals are now greeted by an illuminated harbor. In the past year, the city government set up 1,400 large-scale lighting arrays along bridges, parks and significant architecture.
“When people take a plane to the city, they can see a very clear coastline, which is like a pearl necklace,” said Xu Dongliang, chief designer of the project.
The lighting has a golden tint. “It is not only to echo BRICS, but the color represents a noble aura in Chinese tradition, and it creates a grand atmosphere,” Xu explained.
Xu also mixed BRICS elements into the landscape in Xiamen.
Xu lit up the five bridges over a bay in Xiamen with colors that represent the five member countries of BRICS. He called it a “bay of friendship”.
International guests are greeted by over 40,000 bonsai trees, and city officials have fixed English translation mistakes on street signs.
In line with its emphasis on environmental issues, it was planned as an event with zero carbon emissions, which is unprecedented in the history of the summit. The city estimated that 3,095 tons of carbon dioxide would be generated during the conference.
So plans call for planting 38.7 hectares of mangroves in a coastal area in Xiang’an district in 2018. It will become the city’s biggest wetland park, and offset the summit’s greenhouse gas emissions within the next two decades, city officials said.
“The project is to reflect the spirit of continuous development advocated by BRICS countries,” said Tang Ying, an official of the economy department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.