08/08/2015, 00.00
RUSSIA - CHINA
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Russia and China open Cultural exchange center in Wuhan

The center is in the Alexander Nevsky Church, recently restored at the expense of the People's Republic. The project is part of the wider cooperation between the Russian Volga River region and the Yangtze River region.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - A Russian delegation led by the Presidential Envoy to the Volga Federal District Mikhail Babich, took part in the opening ceremony of the 'House of Russian-Chinese cultural exchange' in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei region, eastern China. The House, as revealed in a statement by the Russian authorities, is located in the Orthodox Church, dedicated to the prince and Saint Alexander Nevsky.

The church was erected in 1893 in the former Hankou by Russian tea merchants. In the mid-twentieth century, the the Orthodox faithful from nearby villages (about two thousand people) were given assistence in the church and a school for Chinese children was opened there. During the Cultural Revolution, the church was closed and used as a warehouse first and then as a place to celebrate civil marriages.

In a project for the construction of a tunnel under the Yangtze River, the Chinese authorities planned to demolish the Alexander Nevsky church complex, but at the initiative of the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill an agreement was reached between the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President to the Russian Volga and the Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi for the conservation and restoration of the structure. China has invested the equivalent of over 3.7 million euro in the restoration.

The 'House of cultural exchange', according to reports from Moscow, will organize events that facilitate the understanding of the spiritual and cultural life of the two countries, as part of a new alliance formed since the isolation of Russia on Western Front because of the Ukrainian crisis.

Babich, in the opening ceremony, described the event as a milestone in the friendship between the two countries and thanked his local partners for the restoration. The mayor of Wuhan, Wang Yong, stressed the importance of developing cultural exchanges. The first exhibition will focus on the theme of the 'Great Tea Trail', which started in Hubei - in Yangloudong. From the seventeenth century onwards it was the main artery of trade and helped develop relations between Russia and China.

The federal district of the Volga region and the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River in China started to promote their cooperation already in 2012. Called by the Russians "Mother Volga", for the vital role it plays in the economic life of the country, the Volga is the longest river in Europe and runs through 13 different federal districts.

The Yangtze in China has a similar strategic and economic importance. Although the two waterways do not meet geographically, these similarities have led their respective regions to try to foster collaboration.

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