For those who visited the Olympic Green in north Beijing during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, it was a journey not only of sports, but also the Chinese culture.
After watching Games competitions in the iconic Bird's Nest and Water Cube, the visitors could also read a "China Story" carefully prepared for them by the Games organizers.
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Tai chi performance staged in Hubei House.
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It is staged in the north part of the Olympic Green Common Domain, where 30 tent-like houses attract an endless influx of people every day. Titled "China Story," the grand culture exhibition opened with the Olympic Games on Aug. 8 and will last through the Paralympic Games' closing on Sept. 17.
Most of China's provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, as well as the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, have come to the exhibition to display their unique intangible cultural heritages.
Though Wednesday was a working day, all the 30 "China Story" houses were full packed with visitors, with more people lining up at the gate and waiting for their turns to enter.
The Sichuan House features the impact of the May 12 earthquake on the culture of Qiang ethnic group. Photos show watchtowers, or "Diaolou" built by the Qiang people, as well as their centuries-old marriage customs.
The magnitude 8 earthquake in May damaged the Qiang ethnic culture seriously. Two museums highlighting the culture of the Qiang people in Beichuan and Maoxian counties were leveled to the ground. Numerous residential houses, watchtowers and bridges in the Qiang community were destroyed, according to the exhibition in Sichuan House.
Fortunately, the Chinese government has launched a special conservation program for the Qiang culture, including its unique language, buildings and customs.
"The exhibition of Sichuan House impressed me the most, as it showed the earthquake's devastating nature, as well as the government's emphasis on ethnic cultural preservation," said Dai Ping, 29, who works for a publishing house in Beijing.
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Girls of Qiang ethnic group are singing for the visitors in Sichuan House.
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Liu Cheng, a local private company owner, brought his three-year-old grandson to visit the "China Story" exhibition. In the Tianjin House, he explained to the boy what was a "New Year picture" and what was the "clay figurine."