Chinese and Russian Youth Jointly Paint Chinese Peonies

Recently, the inauguration ceremony of the Peony Culture Overseas Communication Station (Oryol Site) and the launch event for the youth peony painting collection campaign titled "Stardust as Our Promise: Together We Paint Our Youth" were grandly held at the Railway Workers' Cultural Palace (Patriots' Center) in Oryol, Russia.

This event, jointly hosted by the Propaganda Department of the Heze Municipal Committee, the Propaganda Department of the Dingtao District Committee, and the Oryol State No.1 Middle School in Russia, echoes the "China-Russia Education Year" initiative. With the theme of "Narrating Friendship, Launching a Platform, and Painting a Bright Future Together", it adopts a combination of "ceremony + exhibition + experience" to promote cultural exchanges between the two places from periodic activities to normalized and institutionalized platforms, injecting new impetus into deepening local people-to-people exchanges between China and Russia.

At the event, a video titled "Peony's Voice from Space" was screened, showcasing the first outcomes of peony culture's space-based outreach. It shared insights from the team at Oryol State First Secondary School on their visit to Heze for the 2026 Heze Peony International Communication Forum and educational exchange program. Also shown was a message video recorded by students from Heze Shandong University Affiliated Experimental School for their paired counterparts from Oryol who visited Heze in April this year-capturing youthful voices that conveyed the warm friendship between youth across vast distances.

Subsequently, the event proceeded to the cultural experience segment. The guests jointly visited the peony culture exhibition area, learning about the cultural significance and creative achievements of peony. They also had on-site experiences in handicraft projects such as making patterned sachets, painting "Heze-Oryol Friendship" creative bags, and crafting fan with flowers. In the patterned sachet making area, flowers like peony, rose, and jasmine were neatly arranged. Participants sat around the table, carefully selecting and matching the fillings. With the small tweezers moving up and down, one by one, fragrant sachets gradually took shape, becoming exclusive souvenirs carrying the fragrance of Heze flowers. In the "Heze-Oryol Friendship" creative bag painting area, creative bags printed with patterns of peony and chamomile were unfolded. Participants filled and colored according to their own ideas. With the brush tips moving, the exclusive creative bags of the two places bloomed with creative colors, becoming vivid testimonies to the friendship between the two places.

The flower-adorned fan making area was equally bustling. Materials such as silk flowers, fan frames, and glue were readily available. Participants pasted and assembled according to their own ideas.With fingertips flying, one after another, flower-adorned fans gradually took shape. Everyone raised their works to take photos and check in, capturing the unique beauty of handmade crafts. The friendly atmosphere of "appreciating each other's beauty and sharing beauty" permeated the entire event venue.

As one of the co-organizers of the event, Victoria Viktorovna Andreyeva, a Chinese teacher at Oryol State First Secondary School, shared her thoughts: "Peonies have given two cities thousands of miles apart a common language. Seeing children deeply engaged with sachets, cultural and creative bags, and hairpin fans, we truly felt that Chinese culture is not just an abstract symbol, but something tangible and experiential-warm to the touch. We hope this new station marks a fresh beginning, allowing more Russian youth to approach and understand China through painting and hands-on crafts, and ensuring that the story of Russia-China friendship continues to grow in the hearts of future generations."

Taking this event as a starting point, the two sides will continue to carry out youth exchanges and cultural experience activities based on the "Peony Culture Overseas Communication Station (Oryol Station)," fostering friendly ties between the two regions among younger generations and gathering more youthful energy to deepen local cultural exchanges between China and Russia.

大众网记者 崔智琪 菏泽报道