In Xi’an, the University Alliance of the Silk Road (UASR) has recently held a summer course entitled Han & Tang Civilizations in Museums and Legal Protection 2021.

It attracted 42 students from Egypt, the Philippines, Korea, the United States, Pakistan, Indonesia as well as China’s Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

By tapping into museum resources in Xi'an, the course created an immersive and interactive cultural experience for all participants. At the Shaanxi Medical History Museum, the participants experienced traditional Chinese medicine therapies, such as massages, acupuncture, cupping and moxibustion. At the Hanyangling Museum, they tried on Han-style clothing and learned about Han etiquette and culture. At the Shaanxi Qin Opera Museum, they watched a Qin opera performance by nationally-renowned actors and actresses, such as Shao Ying and Li Qiong.  

Ma Yi, an Egyptian student, said that he would like to contribute towards future cultural exchanges between China and Egypt.

The participants also attended lectures by renowned experts and scholars, such as Liu Shuguang, Chairman of the Chinese Museums Association, Jiang Bo, Vice Chairman of ICOMOS-CHINA, and Professor Ma Zhiguo, Dean of the Institute of Intellectual Property of XJTU, about cultural relics and museums in China, the preservation of traditional Chinese medicine, underwater archaeology in China, the Han and Tang civilizations and the Silk Road, as well as the legal protection of cultural artefacts in museums.

Since July 20, the online course has been offered for free to members of the UASR.

The course was jointly organized by the UASR and the Cultural Relics Bureau of Shaanxi Province and co-hosted by the Institute of Intellectual Property and the School of International Education at Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU).

Participants in the course were from 13 universities, including Peking University, Fudan University, and Renmin University of China.