A delegation from Quanzhou, a port city in east China and a major residence for migrant Arabs centuries ago, will take their local opera, puppet show and tea arts to three Arab countries later this year.
The 20-member delegation will go to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, an official of the Chinese Ministry of Culture said.
Quanzhou has retained a traditional connection with Arab countries, because of its Islamic relics and mosques left by Arab people who sailed to the city hundreds years ago and lived there for generations. Most of their descendants have now become Chinese.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2003)