Chinese culture program launched on Silk Road cruise liner

A cultural program called "Silk Road Stories" has made its debut in Rome on board a new gigantic cruise ship bound for China.

The 19-storey vessel Majestic Princess, where the program's opening ceremony took place, is making its 37-day maiden global voyage from the Italian capital to Xiamen in southeastern China.

Majestic Princess [Photo: China Plus]

The program is set to introduce Western passengers to Chinese culture, such as music, art, dance and cuisine.

Zheng Xuan, Chinese embassy to Italy's charge d'affaires, said the program points to deepening Sino-Italian relations.

"The Silk Road Stories cultural program, jointly held by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and Carnival Corporation, is a creative way to enhance mutual trust and communication between peoples along the contemporary Silk Road as well as a good example of the development of China-Italy relations. It also injects new energy into the people-to-people exchanges within the context of the Belt and Road Initiative."

As the vessel set sail, a group of 24 Chinese children from Shaanxi province performed Yang-ge and waist-drum dance, two kinds of unique and popular folk dances in China.

John Hedley, an Australian tourist at the scene, spoke highly of the performance.

"The show is very good, very special and very nice for a lot of people here to see the music that you have in China. We've been to China, I love China, so China is a good place, and it's nice that this ship (Majestic Princess) is going to China."

With 7000 passengers from 40 countries on board, the cruise ship is set to make 22 stops in 13 different countries along the way before arriving in Xiamen on June 26.

Roger Chen, the ship's operator Carnival Corporation's chairman in China, said the voyage could help the foreign passengers learn more about the Silk Road, and furthermore the Belt and Road initiative.

"The tourists on board Majestic Princess will not only enjoy themselves, but also gain rich experience in terms of studying and understanding the Chinese culture. Most of our passengers are travelers from Europe and America, who have developed keen interests in Chinese culture and history."

Majestic Princess will set out from Shanghai on July 11 and began another voyage taking it to countries including South Korea and Japan.