Foshan: candidate as “2024 Cultural City of East Asia”

　　Good news comes that Foshan has been included in the candidate list of “2024 Cultural City of East Asia” revealed by Ministry of Cultural and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China.

　　Why is Foshan qualified? Let us show you Foshan from different facets.

　　National-level historical and cultural city

　　Foshan was listed as a National-level historical and cultural city back in 1994. There are 15 national-level intangible cultural heritages and 15 national-level intangible cultural inheritors in Foshan. It is also home to 8 major historical and cultural sites protected at the national level and 54 at the provincial level. Up to 244 museums and galleries have been established or are under construction.

　　Notably, Foshan is well known as the “Ceramic Capital of South China”, which dates back to over 500 years ago. 

　　Demonstration city of national public cultural service system

　　In 2019, Foshan ranked the third on the national list of national demonstration city of public cultural service system for its well-developed public facilities. To be specific, so far, there are 1,768.89 square meters of indoor public cultural facilities for every 10,000 people, and 2.81 square meters of sports venues for each person; Among all the books in 349 libraries, each person has 1.4 public books; There are 934 football fields and 281 sports parks, 396 washrooms for visitors and 5 tourist distributing centers in Foshan.

　　Top Tourist City in China 

　　Foshan now boasts of 33 National AAAA Tourist Attractions and 143 tourist agencies, among which, 5 are on the top 100 national list and 12 on the top 30 provincial list.

　　City of Gastronomy 

　　Foshan is famous as the “Cradle of Guangdong Cuisine” and the “Home of Chinese Chefs”. More impressively, Shunde, a district in Foshan, has been crowned as the “Creative Cities Network- City of Gastronomy” by UNESCO.

　　City of Martial Arts

　　Foshan, the birthplace of martial arts, including Wing Chun, Hung Kuen and Choy Li Fut, is the only city hailed as “City of Kung-Fu”. In 2021, Foshan Wing Chun has been put on the extended list as one of the representative intangible cultural heritage projects! 

　　Birthplace of Cantonese Opera

　　Wanfu Stage built in 1658 is the largest and well-preserved stage in Lingnan area for Cantonese opera. Even today, there are so many enthusiasts of this local opera in Foshan. 

　　In 2013, Nanhai, a district in Foshan, won the reputation of “Home of Chinese Operas”.

　　Going global

　　Foshan has already established a sound friendship with 17 cities of 13 countries and also hosted many cultural and tourism exchanges with Itami in Japan and Pusan, Tongyeong, Daegu and Pocheon in Korea, boosting the cultural prosperity in East Asia. 

　　Foshan will be committed to building the cultural city of East Asia. By the virtue of its rich culture, Foshan will soon be served as the platform in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for exchange to the outside world. 

　　Author | Ivy

　　Revisor | Eleanor