China to celebrate ASEAN cultures in May

The 2015 ASEAN Cultural Week will be held at Beijing's Chaoyang Park in May, featuring everything from cuisine and handicrafts to pop-star performances.

ASEAN, formally the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, consists of 10 countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

China's connection with ASEAN dates back centuries, when Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) admiral Zheng He led his mighty fleet loaded with silk, gold and porcelain to Southeast Asia, making friends with local people and leaving the first impression of Chinese culture there.

The year 2014 has included celebrations of the ASEAN-China Cultural Exchange Year and Malaysia-China 40th year Anniversary. The goal of enabling more people to understand the diversity of ASEAN led to the birth of ASEAN Cultural Week.

This year's ASEAN Cultural Week, which was in late November, featured cultural officials from ASEAN countries who discussed the potential for film and TV collaboration with China in a forum, which aimed to create a bridge of friendship between China and ASEAN through its theme, Emerging Creativity: Celebrating ASEAN Diversity Through Films.

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