International Confucius Cultural Exchange Program: Overseas Tour of Confucian Culture in Athens, Greece

On June 9, local time, the International Confucius Cultural Exchange Program successfully held its overseas tour event in Athens, Greece. Centered on cultural exhibitions, immersive experiences, cultural tourism promotion, and cooperation agreements, the event aimed to foster exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Greek civilizations, help bring Confucian culture to the world, and build a bridge for cultural tourism cooperation between China and Europe.

The event was organized by Sanliong Cultural Tourism. It invited over 50 distinguished guests and representatives from Greek local municipalities, tourism associations, cultural and museum institutions, and mainstream media. The Confucius Museum brought its “The Code of Confucius” thematic cultural exhibition to the scene, along with high-quality cultural and creative exhibitions from Nishan Sacred Land and Doushen Animation, adding vibrancy and appeal to the event.

The event kicked off with the screening of promotional videos: “This is Shandong,” “Into Jining,” and “Aerial View of Qufu.”

In front of the “The Code of Confucius” exhibition panels, experts from Greek cultural, museum, and tourism sectors stopped to admire the displays.

The event venue featured a thematic exhibition zone for Confucian cultural and creative products, showcasing nearly 100 items across six major series: Prayers at the Confucius Temple, Creations of the Kong Family Mansion, The Four Treasures of the Study, and Ritual and Music Culture. These physical objects served as tangible carriers to interpret the essence of Confucian culture.

Meanwhile, immersive experience activities such as intangible cultural heritage rubbing, the Yiwu dance (sacrificial dance to Confucius), tasting of Kongfu pastries, and hand-copying the Analects of Confucius attracted enthusiastic participation, allowing guests to deeply experience the unique charm and cultural depth of Confucianism.

During the promotional and exchange session, representatives from Sanliong Cultural Tourism highlighted the cultural and museum resources of Jining and Qufu, the intangible cultural heritage of the sacrificial rites and music to Confucius, Kongfu cuisine culture, and themed routes featuring world cultural heritage sites. Lysandros Tsilidis, President of the Hata Tourism Association of Greece, introduced Greece’s premium cultural tourism resources and expressed aspirations for cultural exchange and cooperation.

The two sides jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Tourism Cooperation, marking a substantial step forward in practical cooperation in the cultural tourism sector.

At the conclusion of the event, both Chinese and Greek sides exchanged cultural gifts, including a statue of Confucius, using cultural tokens as a bond to convey the vision of mutual learning, friendly exchanges, and to continue writing a new chapter in Sino-Greek friendship.

The International Confucius Cultural Exchange Program (Athens Stop) utilized culture as a medium and cultural tourism as a bridge, opening a new pathway for the overseas dissemination of Confucian culture and establishing a new platform for Sino-Greek civilizational exchange and cultural tourism cooperation. The success of this event not only promoted the overseas spread of China’s outstanding Confucian culture and enhanced the international influence of Shandong’s distinctive cultural tourism brands, but also deepened cultural empathy and industrial cooperation between China and Greece, injecting new momentum into the continuous promotion of mutual learning among civilizations, the expansion of cultural tourism opening-up, and the high-quality development of the cultural tourism industry.