CLAIR’s Visit to the Top Hutong in Beijing Before the Spring Festival

This particular hutong owes its significance to the numerous celebrated scholars and political leaders who once lived here, for example, Ling Shuhua, Zhang Shizhao and Hu Shih. It thus gained the reputation of “The hutong that nurtured half of China”. Inside the Shijia Hutong Museum, hearing to the songs of peddlers and seeing the old objects from childhood memories, one can easily imagine the days of yore and the vicissitudes of history.

On January 15, members of the Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (the BPAFFC), the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Dongcheng District and the Beijing Office of CLAIR, the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, held an informal discussion in the Shijia Hutong Museum in Dongcheng District. The museum staff imparted to the Japanese guests the Beijing hutong culture, the history of Shijia Hutong and the changes in hutong life.

Later, the three sides discussed in the museum conference room. After watching a promotional video of Dongcheng District, Zhou Guifang, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Doncheng District People’s Government, gave a detailed introduction on topics such as the development plan for Dongcheng District, the protection of historical and cultural relics, and the renovation and governance of the old city. Takaaki Miyamoto, director of the Beijing Office of CLAIR, expressed his gratitude to the Dongcheng District authorities for the warm reception, and introduced the objective of the Council and the urban situation of the Kansai region of Japan. The parties then had in-depth discussions on the establishment of international exchanges between Dongcheng District and cities in the Kansai region, and reached preliminary cooperation intent.

Gao Shuangjin, vice-president of the BPAFFC, made concluding remarks. He stated that thanks to the continuously improving China-Japan relationship, there is great potential for friendly people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. As the core area of the capital, Dongcheng District has a remarkable location advantage and compatibility for exchanges and cooperation with the Kansai region in areas such as protection of traditional culture, urban comprehensive governance, healthcare and pension system. He hoped that the two parties will take the discussion as an opportunity to maintain close ties and jointly expand the “circle of friends” for sub-national cooperation between the two countries.