The culture of Quanzhou, once the starting point of the sea route of the "Silk Road" of east China's Fujian Province, will be fully displayed in an exhibition in four countries along the ancient "Silk Road."

The show has previewed at Jintai Art Museum in Beijing, with Chinese Vice-Culture Minister Meng Xiaosi and diplomats from more than 10 Arab countries attending, the Ministry of Culture (MOC) announced here Tuesday.

The show, chiefly sponsored by the MOC, aims to promote cultural ties between China and the Arab world, and the culture on the sea route of the "Silk Road".

The exhibition, divided into three parts, will introduce the past and present of Quanzhou with photos, antiquities, models and characters, and the profound cultural background of the city with music and folk arts. Local enterprises in the fields of trade, technology, tourism and culture will also be invited to attend the show.

Quanzhou, known as China's largest harbor in ancient times, now has more than 60,000 descendants of Arabic peoples. In 2001, Oman and Saudi Arabia donated more than 500,000 US dollars to build an Islamic culture relics museum in Quanzhou. Today, Quanzhou has established economic and trade ties with more than 150 countries and regions, attracting over seven million tourists every year.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 24, 2003)