Ilocos Norte renews cultural ties with China
LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte — The provincial government of Ilocos Norte has renewed its friendship and strong ties with the People’s Republic of China after the successful conduct of the Ilocos Norte Filipino-Chinese Traditional Cultural Festival at the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena last week.
Shandong is Ilocos Norte’s sister province, hence constant efforts to sustain social ties through FilipinoChinese exchanges.
Governor Imee R. Marcos saw the event as a renewal and revival of the nations’ friendship, emphasizing that the relationship is not only about economic and political exchanges, but more importantly sharing of culture and people-to-people contact.
“There is a special place for these relations here in Ilocos Norte, for these relations are marked through the centuries; not by imperialism and exploitation, of war or of difficult colonization, rather of peace, of friendship, and of prosperity,” she added, explaining the history of that tremendous friendship.
In line with this, students from the Nasudi Cultural Troupe of Mariano Marcos State University, Bin-I Dance Troupe of MMSU College of Teacher Education, and Samiweng singers of the Ilocos Norte National High School also shared Ilocano culture through folk dances and folk songs, respectively.
With an aim of Consul Wang Jianquin, Consulate of the People’s Republic of China in Laoag, to provide a glimpse of Chinese culture, numerous performances by various groups of talents from China, including the Quan Zhou Arts Troupe were presented.
The series of performances included traditional dances, acrobatics, martial arts, singing acts, and puppeteer shows.