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UNWTO Guests Visit Songshan Shaolin Temple


 


     On the morning of November 15, accompanied by Wan Xu, Deputy Secretary-General of Henan Provincial People's Government, Ni Yuzhou, Deputy Director-General of Henan Tourism Administration, and Yang Fuping, Vice Mayor of Zhengzhou, Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the UNWTO and Zhu Shanzhong, Executive Director for Technical Cooperation and Services at the UNWTO, led the delegation to Dengfeng for visiting and inspecting the branding tourism project of Henan—Shaolin Temple, during which they experienced the profound Chinese culture and Shaolin Zen culture.
     The delegation led by Taleb Rifai showed great interest in visiting the cultural relics displayed in Wushu Hall of Songshan Shaolin Temple, including sculptures, inscriptions and weapons. Moreover, they also watched the brilliant Kungfu performance given by Wushu learners, including Tong Zi Gong, Shaolin fist forms, Shaolin flexibility skills, Shaolin Hard Qigong, and 18 Shaolin weapons, which received much applause from the guests. After watching the performance of Shaolin Kungfu, Taleb Rifai extended warm greetings to the disciples of Shaolin Temple and gave an appraisal of the performance, “The reputation of Shaolin Kungfu is well supported by the fact.”
     After that, Taleb Rifai and the delegation came to Regular Yard and Pagoda Forest of Shaolin Temple for experiencing the charm of Shaolin culture at a very close distance. In the Abbot's Quarter, Taleb Rifai discussed with the Abbot Shi Yongxin and exchanged their ideas on how to handle the relationship between tourism development and Buddhist practice. When hearing that Shaolin culture has spread throughout the world and Shaolin Kungfu, Shaolin meditation and Shaolin health preservation have been well-received by friends at home and abroad, Taleb Rifai indicated that Shaolin Temple and Shaolin culture are playing a crucial role in expanding the influence of Chinese culture and intensifying the exchanges between China and other countries, so there are a lot experience and practices for drawing lessons from. He also invited Shaolin Temple to participate in the World Conference on Tourism and Culture to be held in Cambodia.
     According to Taleb Rifai, it was a very special visit, and Shaolin Kungfu and Shaolin culture were amazing and astonishing. He would take all what he saw and heard back to the UNWTO.


 

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