Construction of China's first world culture exhibition center began recently in the coastal city of Quanzhou in Fujian Province, southeast China.
The exhibition center is being created for the United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2002 to draw attention to cultural heritage as a means for peace and reconciliation, as well as development.
The center will be used to showcase cultural heritage from around the world.
Quanzhou, China's oldest port from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), is home to rich traditional culture, such as tea ceremony, southern music (classical music), puppetry and folk customs in various forms including oral and intangible.
(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2002)