Director invited Children from Western Hunan to visit the Hunan Museum

On December 2^nd, one hundred children from Xuefeng Village, Huitong County, Huaihua were invited by the director of the Hunan Museum to visit the renovated museum, providing them an opportunity to have a close contact with national treasures. For many of them, it’s the first time to walk out of their hometown and have a look at the world outside, embarking on an unforgettable journey of history and culture.
 

Children visit the museum under the guidance of an educator.

The event, named “Director of the Hunan Museum invited 100 Children from Western Hunan to visit the museum”, was sponsored by  the Hunan Museum and organized by the Poverty Alleviation Team of Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Hunan Daily Global Travel Co., Ltd. In order to serve the public education and implement its ideal of social welfare, the Hunan Museum initiated the activity, bringing children in the Western Hunan which is mountainous and less developed, to learn more about the profound history and culture in Hunan.

The welcoming ceremony was attended by Chen Yuanping, deputy director of Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and leaders from other relevant departments of the Provincial Government and several cultural institutions. Chen Yuanping, who delivered a speech at the ceremony, said "Museums undertake the mission of enlightening and serving the living. Since its foundation, the Hunan Museum has shouldered the responsibility of promoting culture and education, as well as improving social welfare. As the national policy of "targeted poverty alleviation" was rooted in Hunan, Hunan Museum, being a landmark of Hunan culture, shall take the initiative to set an example for other cultural units in alleviation poverty. I hope that our museum will work hard unremittingly and stay committed to its original mission."

Speech given by Chen Yuanping, Deputy Director of Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism

In the morning of December 2nd, Duan Xiaoming, director of the Hunan Museum, kindly said to those children from Xuefeng Village Primary School, "I hope you can join me as a gatekeeper of Hunan Museum. We will get together to learn the extensive and profound history of China, to cherish those antique but well-preserved cultural relics, to inherit the everlasting spirit of the Chinese culture." 
 

Welcome speech by Duan Xiaoming, director of the Hunan Museum

Duan hopes that the seeds of historical and cultural heritage can be sown in the hearts of children.
In recent years, staff members from the Hunan Museum have contributed a lot to public education. The "Mobile Museum" carts travel tens of thousands of kilometers across Hunan, bringing knowledge and joy to numerous children. "Practical Education Activities for Middle School Students" are very popular in hundreds of schools. Thanks to that, the museum makes it possible for those children, who come from mountainous areas thousands of miles away, to stand here and appreciate art. Duan Xiaoming said that public education, especially the education of children, is of great significance. "Children are our hope and future, it is a virtue to make our due efforts to help them enrich and improve themselves."

Since October this year, the Hunan Museum has been engaged in organizing a series of activities entitled "The director invites children in Western Hunan to visit our Museum." By conducting the activity “Let’s help children in Western Hunan ", the museum has collected more than 2100 books and over 1200 cultural and sport items from the public. Those items, worthy of ten thousand yuan, were all delivered to Xuefeng Village Primary School. Besides, we invited children to Changsha City, to visit cultural attractions such as Yuelu Academy and the tip of Orange Island. Memorable classes that combine knowledge with joy were also presented for children in the Museum’s classroom.
"We will continuously pay much more attention to those children in mountainous areas and organize a series of public education and public welfare activities." Duan Xiaoming said, supporting children in poor mountainous areas, along with carrying forward the course of public education, has been and will always be a mission and responsibility of the Hunan Museum.

Building partnership beyond distance

At the welcoming ceremony of " Inviting children in Western Hunan to visit our Museum ", Changsha Datong Guhancheng Primary School, sent out an invitation to Xuefeng Village Primary School which is thousands of miles afar. The two schools successfully became partners.
 

Chen Fenghua, a leader of Datong Guhancheng Primary School, and Liu Shaoai, principal of Xuefeng Village Primary School, exchanged gifts with each other, the two schools became paired support partners.

Performance given by Xuefeng Village Primary School

Chen Fenghua said that he has always been deeply touched by what the Hunan Museum has done for the public, and hopes to pass on this spirit of love and dedication to children. "Today, in our Museum, children studying in Changsha make friends with those in Xuefeng, so that they can help each other and achieve common progress. That is the most meaningful thing which can guide them to pursue virtue for the whole life."

Liu Shaoai, principal of Xuefeng Village Primary School, handed over a basket of fresh bamboo shoots from the village to Chen Fenghua. The gift, bearing the fragrance of soil, also filled with simplicity and sweetness of Xuefeng, symbolized a precious friendship. He was happy for the children and looking forward to a promising future of Xuefeng.

Achievement in poverty alleviation efforts

Located at the remote area of east Xuefeng Mountain, Xuefeng Village is scarcely populated and poor in natural resources. In such a provincial-level impoverished village, people live a tough life and children study in poor conditions.

Since it entry in Xuefeng Village, the Poverty Alleviation Team of Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism has made lots of efforts ranging from traffic construction to planning and transformation, from industry support to cultural poverty alleviation. During the time, Xuefeng village witnessed tremendous changes. According to the head of the poverty alleviation team, the village is expected to be officially lifted out of poverty by the end of 2018, and Xuefeng Village will write a brand new chapter of development.
 

13 members of Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, who are in charge of targeted supporting program, are meeting families involved.

Xuefeng Village in Huitong County, as a stationary village for cultural poverty alleviation launched by Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, is home to 81 pairs of "relatives". During the event, “the curator invited children in mountainous areas to visit our Museum”, 13 pairs of families came to the site. Xiao Ling, Zhang Fan presented exquisite color pencil case to 13 targeted families. After a brief welcoming ceremony, 13 members of Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, who are in charge of targeted supporting program, had a meeting with those pairs of families. During the meeting, they talked to each other face to face, showing their sincerest concerns. They got to know more about the conditions of targeted families, focused much on children’s study environment and encouraged them to work hard and aim high.