The "China Up-Close" tour arrived at Changde City, Hunan Province on September 3, 2024.

A 37-member media delegation, including 10 mainstream media from African countries and the English, French, and Arabian teams of the China Global Television Network (CGTN), visited Hejie Street in Changde City.

Members of the "China Up-Close" tour in Hunan gather to observe Li Jianying creating a flax linen painting. Li is a third-generation inheritor of flax linen painting skills. 

The delegation members attentively listened to a professional introduction, learning about the past and present of this time-honored street, which integrates sightseeing, business, culture, and history.  

The "China Up-Close" delegation visits the Changde Rural Revitalization Museum. An African journalist is attracted by Wuling Spirit, a Chinese liquor produced in Changde. 

The delegation visited Pan Nenghui's studio on Hejie Street, where they admired a 25-meter-long Chinese ink painting titled Sketches of a Trip to Hunan, a masterpiece by renowned Chinese writer Shen Congwen. Pan planned to spend 10 years to depict the scenes in this masterpiece on a huge toona ebony which is 10 tonnes in weight, 10 meters in length, and 1.8 meters in diameter. This is a picture of folk customs in northwestern Hunan, and moreover, an artistic work which integrates cultural features, folk customs, and architectural and street scenery along the Yuanshui River.  

The African members listen to an introduction about Changde's camellia oil.

The delegation members appreciated the flax linen painting works at Li Jianying's studio on Hejie Street, trying their hands at making flax linen paintings to feel the charm of Changde's intangible cultural heritage.

An African member shows a flax linen painting work jointly created by him and Li. 

At a teahouse, the delegation tasted Changde's Lei Cha, or ground tea, a kind of ancient and unique tea drink made of tea leaves, sesame, and peanuts. An emcee from Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) experienced the production of Lei Cha, fostering cultural exchanges through the fragrance of tea.

An African member uses chopsticks to taste the snacks alongside Lei Cha.

The African media workers were deeply impressed by Changde's vigorous development and changes recorded in the rural revitalization museum and the old photography gallery.

During the tour, the African media workers communicated with local staff, discussing the importance of cultural protection and inheritance, and the possibility of mutual learning and common development of different cultures under the background of globalization.