Madam Li Xiaolin, President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), led the 8th Delegation of “Say It As It Is”, composed of Mr. Zhao Wei, Vice-President of China National Academy of Painting and Mr. Chen Ping, Professor of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, to pay a visit to the United States on June 17 and 18, 2013. In the spirit of “Art is borderless, culture conveys friendship”, the delegation had face-to-face dialogue with four U.S. Senators and two members of House of Representatives and introduced the characteristics and charm of Chinese traditional paintings to them, with the hope to enhance mutual understanding between the Chinese and American people and to promote the development of China-U.S. relations by cultural exchanges.
The U.S. Congressmen showed their great interest in Chinese traditional art. They asked several detailed questions about the characteristics of Chinese fan painting and highly appreciated the artistic attainments of the two Chinese painters.
During the visit, CPAFFC and China National Academy of Painting co-hosted an art exhibition named Beautiful China: Fan Paintings from the National Academy of Painting in Meridian International Center in Washington D.C.. Madam Li Xiaolin, Mr. Cui Tiankai, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States, Mr. Zhao Wei, Vice-President of China National Academy of Painting and Mr. Stuart Holliday, President and CEO of Meridian International Center attended the exhibition reception and delivered speeches respectively. Professor Chen Ping demonstrated the Chinese calligraphy by writing “Chinese and western culture glorify together”, “China-U.S. friendship will pass on from generation to generation.”, “Friendship, Peace, Cooperation, Development” during the reception. Over one hundred people from political, cultural and business circles as well as people-to-people organizations of the United States attended the reception and enjoyed the exhibition.
From 2002 to 2012, CPAFFC has organized 7 delegations of “Say It as It Is”, which were composed of the ordinary Chinese people, to visit the United States. By narrating their respective lives, work and experiences of setting up business, those delegates introduced the real situation of the economic and social development in China to the U.S. Congressmen and expressed the good wishes of Chinese people to enhance China-U.S. relations.
