January 2024

Linyi Launched 2024 Shandong New Year’s Rural Culture Tourism Festival 

As the Chinese Spring Festival is approaching, Linyi recently launched the 2024 New Year’s Shandong Rural Culture Tourism Festival. With Shuiyu Tianyuan in Pingyi County as its center, the ceremonial event was held simultaneously in all the districts and counties of Linyi City.  Quite a few related organizations in Linyi hosted the event, including the City Marketing Department, the Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, and the Municipal Radio and Television Station. Shandong’s handmade arts as intangible cultural heritage are on display during the festival. New Year’s goods fair is to be seen,…


Chen Qinggui’s Art Life with “Gourd Pyrography” 

Gourds have been widely cultivated in China as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1046BC-256BC). Gourd pyrography as a folk artform can be traced back to the Jiaqing period (1796-1820) of Emperor Renzong in the Qing Dynasty (1616-1912). Mengshan Gourd Pyrography, is very popular in Wenshui Town of Pingyi County in Linyi City, Shandong Province. One representative of this artform there is Mr. Chen Qinggui, whose gourd pyrography compositions are well-known due to the vivid and skillful techniques. His gourd paintings describe landscapes, human figures, or zodiac signs. Exquisite and unique, his works show the high niveau of this traditional Chinese…


Overseas Students Enjoying the New Year’s Flavor at Linyi Luozhuang with its Cultural Heritage

Recently, Luozhuang District Committee of Linyi City invited 10 overseas students studying at Linyi University from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Russia and other countries to participate in the activity of “Shandong Celebrating the Chinese New Year – Luozhuang Trip with New Year’s Flavor”. The students experienced the unique charm and characteristic of the local culture there with much typical Chinese tradition. The students visited Miaomiao Paper-cutting Studio and Yimeng Exhibition Center in Luozhuang District, where they dived into the New Year’s atmosphere and enjoyed paper-cutting, ceramics, pottery culture and more. Existing widely across the country, paper-cutting is a…


“Animal Kingdom” in Linyi: A Big Attraction for this Winter Vacation

Baoshanqian Wildlife Park is a 4,600-mu-sized super “animal kingdom” in Linyi with lakes and mountains around. The entertainment park is a huge attraction in winter, too. As the winter vacation is approaching, many parents are planning the holiday with their children. Baoshanqian Wildlife Park is ready to receive the crowd who will – for sure – be enchanted by the big selection of wild animals and other related programmes, such as “Baoshan Lake Rafting” or “Animal Hunting on the Great Wall”. One can start the wild journey by sitting on a bubble boat, feeling the wind blowing and observing the…


PASCO’s In-Depth Discussion on GPT-like Artificial Intelligence

Since the release of the application ChatGPT, which is based on the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) model, GPT-like generative artificial intelligence tools have become integrated into various aspects of our lives over the past year. This integration has synergized human intelligence with artificial intelligence, providing numerous conveniences. While benefiting from the advantages these AI tools bring, people are also contemplating and researching the future development of this technology, its impact on individuals and the society, as well as the coexistence of humans with artificial intelligence. (Fig.1:  Daily applications of ChatGPT – by courtesy of Dr. Shiyi Wang) Following the presentation and…