Yesterday morning, the opening ceremony of the 2025 East Asian Culture Capital · Huzhou, China Activity Year was held under the theme “Ecological Culture, Presented in the region south of the Yangtze River”. Representatives from the “East Asian Culture Capital” cities of China, Japan, and South Korea gathered at South TaiLake for a spring rendezvous imbued with the charm of the Jiangnan region. Together, they promoted cultural integration and mutual understanding among civilizations, painting a new vision for East Asian culture-one that embraces the spirit of “cherishing each beauty and respecting all beauties”.

Chen Hao, secretary of the Huzhou Municipal Party Committee; Lian Kunming, deputy secretary of the Huzhou Municipal Party Committee and mayor; Kim Yeong-jun, consul general of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai; Zhang Jianping, deputy director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China; Kim Bo-ra, mayor of the city of Anseong, South Korea; Senda Katsuichiro, vice mayor of the city of Kamakura, Japan; Zheng Jiming, deputy director of the Macao Special Administrative Region Cultural Affairs Bureau of China; Xu Yaoming, deputy director of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government Tourism Office; Xu Xiao, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, Radio, and Television Tourism; Chen Jiangfeng, deputy director of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Zhejiang; as well as Ayako Hasegawa, head of the Press and Culture Section of the Consulate General of Japan in Shanghai; Li Guoxin, an expert on the East Asian Culture Capital and a professor at Peking University; and others attended the opening ceremony. Shen Zhonghua, Zheng Xinyou, and Shi Yiting, leaders of Huzhou; Xu Peng, president of the Zhejiang Tourism Association; Wang Zhe, vice president of the Trip.com Group; representatives of the Yangtze River Delta Integrated Tourism Alliance and Yangtze River Delta travel agents; and representatives of other domestic "East Asian Culture Capital" cities also participated.

At the opening ceremony, 10 premium inbound tourism routes for China’s “East Asian Culture Capital” were unveiled, along with Ctrip’s “Huzhou Day” global initiative to boost inbound tourism. The performing arts groups from Huzhou, China; Macao, China; Kamakura, Japan; and Anseong, South Korea, the four “East Asian Culture Capitals” for 2025, conducted performances respectively, showcasing the unique charm of their respective regional cultures.