On the evenings of 9 and 10 November 2024, the visiting Zhejiang Wu Opera Troupe from China gave 2 excellent performances at Gateway Assembly, St George, Grenada.
H E Wei Hongtian, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Grenada, and Xu Xiao, Deputy Director-General of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, joined hundreds of local audiences and those from the Chinese community in watching the performance with great interest.
H E Dame Cecil La Grenade, Governor-General of Grenada; Hon. Andy Williams, Acting Prime Minister; Hon. Adrian Thomas, Minister for Tourism, Culture and the Creative Economy and other cabinet ministers; Hon. Dr Dessima Williams, President of the Senate, other parliamentarians and senior officials were also present.
In his speech, Ambassador Wei warmly welcomed the visiting cultural troupe and briefed the audience the fruitful cooperation between China and Grenada over the past 20 years since the resumption of diplomatic ties, especially in the area of cultural and people-to-people exchanges. He advocated that China and Grenada both boast rich cultural heritage, should champion the Global Civilisation Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, build a bridge for cultural exchanges between the 2 countries and advocate peace, harmony and co-existence. The preciousness of culture does not lie in conservation and isolation but in exchange and mutual learning. He expected the shining, attractive cultural elements in Grenada such as steel pan, Big Drum, calypso, soca, mas, carnival and jab jab would also be enjoyed by Chinese people. He also announced that another art troupe from China, which will mainly perform acrobatics, martial arts, magic and face-changing, is planning to visit Grenada in January 2025 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic ties and the traditional Chinese Spring Festival, the lunar year of Snake.
Minister Thomas appreciated the Wu Opera Troupe for its visit to Grenada to showcase the charm of the Chinese culture and applauded the long-time mutual support between Grenada and China in many areas, especially in cultural development. He said that the visit is a good opportunity for the 2 countries to learn from each other and promote mutual understanding, and hoped that in the years to come, Grenadian creatives would have many more opportunities to travel to China and engage with their Chinese counterparts, experiencing firsthand the depth and diversity of Chinese culture while showcasing Grenadian’s own unique heritage.
The Wu Opera Troupe, the 12
th Chinese Art Troupe to visit Grenada since 2006, performed 8 programmes on each night with fantastic Chinese traditional singing, dancing, face changing, Erhu (Chinese instrument) solo and martial arts. The world-renowned Chinese legendary figure “Monkey King” as well as some other typical, historical Chinese characters were brought to the stage as well. The local Republic Bank Angel Harps and Lion Pride Percussions also gave shows.
The performances ended with joy and amazement, and the audience was fascinated by the performers’ skills. The mixed show of Chinese and Grenadian traditions was a perfect match and opened a gateway for appreciating the beauty of different cultures and promoting mutual understanding.
