Culture is the sail, and light and shadow are the medium! Interpretation of the Long-term Password of Cultural Exchange and Mutual Learning in Ningbo Overseas Factories

Employees of Kangda Fine Arts Bangladesh Factory are watching the exhibition.

On September 26th, 2025, the special exhibition of "Ningbo in Light and Shadow" in Spain opened, and more than 100 people gathered, including UN officials, representatives of Chinese and Western governments, and university professors. This first show of "Ningbo in Light and Shadow" in Western Europe is another vivid practice of Ningbo’s international cultural exchange.

Since May last year, in 15 months, activities have spread all over Cambodia, the United States and other 19 countries. Through factory culture corners, city exhibition halls and other forms, Xuedou Mountain’s "Oriental Smile" and Angkor Wat’s "Khmer Smile" are connected from a distance, making the city marks such as Zhoushan Port and Hangzhou Bay Bridge in Ningbo amazing overseas. The activity reached nearly 460,000 person-times, which not only showed Ningbo’s industrial vitality and humanistic heritage, but also wrote a long scroll of light and shadow in the global dialogue with the concept of humanistic economics-and this exploration has never stopped.

Take root:

Seek resonance in differences and break the "communication dilemma"

"Many cultural exchanges are like shouting through the glass, and they are lively, and the other party may not understand." The person in charge of Ningbo International Communication Center said. Ningbo’s solution is to let culture find resonance in differences.

"Ningbo in the Light and Shadow" has never been the same exhibition template. In the National Exhibition Hall of Buddhism in Southeast Asia, Maitreya in Xuedou Mountain and Angkor Wat are separated by a mysterious smile, and local employee Haruki Alin sighs "cordial as neighbors"; In Casablanca, Morocco, in front of the image of Ningbo Zhoushan Port in Tongze Logistics Workshop, JALAL, a worker in Tangier Port, was fascinated. "This is the dream of all port people"; On the Madrid booth, the narrative logic is even more ingenious. The fishing festival Qian Fan competes with Spanish traditional fishing, Peking Opera peking opera blues and Flamenco dancers, and Carlos stops: "The love for life and the awe of nature are the same all over the world."

Employees of Shi Danu Cambodia factory are watching the exhibition.

Antonio, the president of the Spanish China Friendship Association and a former member of the Madrid Region, gave an intriguing example: "China has the wisdom of’ harmony without difference’, and the Spanish proverb says’ en la variedad est á el Gustato’ (the flavor is all in diversity), which is a truth." He turned the patterns of Hemudu’s "Two Birds in the Morning" and Picasso’s "guernica" on the front and back of the round fan. "This is the best proof-civilization is not either one or the other, but symbiosis and common prosperity."

The "one meter space" in the corner of the exhibition hall is ingenious. Mario, a Spanish guy, holds a graphic seal and prints "Don Quixote on the way" and "Ningbo Tianyi Pavilion" on the bookmark. "I used to think that China culture is an old thing in the museum, but now I can make it myself and suddenly get close." He held up the finished product and smiled shyly. Louisa, holding a bamboo curtain wind chime, gently shook: "China culture is the voice in your hand."

In Detroit, USA, in the exhibition hall of Shenglong’s overseas factory, cultural resonance is also happening quietly. This Ningbo-based manufacturing enterprise specially moved the automatic production line of the extremely smart factory and the Ningbo International Circuit into the exhibition hall. Eric Musk, a supplier development engineer, has been to Ningbo three times, and each time he came and went in a hurry. He pointed to the photos of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge and said with regret, "You must drive here next time."

This rooted communication logic is integrated into Ningbo’s cultural genes. As an important port of origin of the Maritime Silk Road, this city has never stopped exploring the dialogue between civilizations. Nowadays, this exploration has turned into images in the exhibition hall, patterns on the round fan and the temperature at the fingertips, which has made cultural exchanges jump out of the one-way output of "you talk and I listen" and become a two-way trip of "seeing each other".

Cohesion:

Gather strength in coordination and solve the problem of "fighting alone"

Exchange and mutual learning have never been a one-man show.

Ningbo, deeply impressed. This city, with 26,000 private foreign trade enterprises and 11 national cultural export enterprises, is weaving a multi-coordinated cultural exchange network, turning scattered forces into a joint force to promote mutual learning among civilizations.

In the combination of "steady expansion", the action of "thousands of enterprises expand the market" expanded the number of overseas exhibitions to 172, an increase of 72% over last year; In the future, "Thousands of Enterprises Exhibition" plans to directly set up cultural zones in overseas factories and exhibition sites.

The timing of the special exhibition of "Ningbo in Light and Shadow" in Spain is quite meaningful-it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Europe and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the West. The government accurately docked diplomatic nodes and invited Marcel Reze, deputy director of the International Development and Cooperation Department of the United Nations Tourism Organization, and other heavyweight guests to be present. Marcel Razer recognized Zhoushan Port in Ningbo at a glance: "This is one of the busiest ports in the world. I hope this exhibition will let more people enter Ningbo and understand the openness and vitality of this city."

Ningbo specially combed the experience of Ninghai stationery industry in going to sea-772 stationery enterprises went to sea in groups and integrated elements such as Drum Tower and Tianyige into product design, with annual sales exceeding 34.55 billion yuan. These replicable "Ningbo experiences" make culture lead by rules.

The deep participation of enterprises has given cultural communication a rooted soil. More than 300 overseas factories and thousands of industry exhibitions are not only important links in production, manufacturing and sales, but also natural stations for cultural exchanges. Deye Electric moved the miniature models of Ningbo Drum Tower and Sanjiangkou into the exhibition hall at the home appliance exhibition in Almaty, Kazakhstan. When merchants discussed business, they naturally talked about the business stories on the ancient Silk Road. Inspired by "Ningbo in Light and Shadow", Tongze Logistics held a photo exhibition in the factory in Morocco. Chinese and foreign employees used lenses to record each other’s daily work. Tao Haijun, the general manager, said frankly: "Sometimes, a photo can bring us closer than ten sentences. With cultural recognition, team cohesion will naturally be strong."

The picture shows the "Ningbo Day" event at the Osaka World Expo.

The scene at the Osaka World Expo is more instructive. Ningbo Jianfeng New Materials participated in the exhibition with the "Marine Pollution Control Scheme", instead of piling up complicated technical parameters, it exhibited T-shirts and electric toothbrushes made of recycled materials. Founder Ma Yiming didn’t expect that this way of combining environmental protection technology with life aesthetics caused an unexpected resonance on the spot. In the end, the company signed a memorandum of cooperation with Toray Corporation of Japan, and Ma Yiming said with emotion: "I used to think that culture is soft power, but now I understand that it is a hard currency that can promote cooperation."

The increasing salary of social forces has made cultural exchanges warm. The teacher of the Spanish Chinese School played the Spanish folk song "Dove" on the cucurbit flute, which blended Chinese and Western culture and instantly "warmed up the scene". Luna, an overseas Chinese, took the flower-wrapped work of "Hi Craft" in Zhenhai and explained in detail the origin of this "three-dimensional embroidery" in Qing Dynasty. Foreign media reporters followed the exhibition "Catch Live Fish", and Yusuf Dusha, Secretary General of Bangladesh National Photography Association, took pictures of factory employees.

Ningbo enterprise Tongze Logistics Company, which entered Morocco.

Liu Chengang, head of the Cultural Office of the China Embassy in Morocco, commented quite pertinently: "The cultural exchange in Ningbo is not an official’ spring snow’, but a’ national action’ in which the government, enterprises, overseas Chinese and non-governmental organizations participate. This kind of communication has roots, souls and temperatures, so that it can truly enter the hearts of the people. "

Endurance:

Seek long-term effect in the mechanism and prevent "short-lived"

"It is not difficult to hold a lively exhibition, but it is difficult to let the influence of culture stay and pass on." Yang Changqing, director of the China Cultural Center in Madrid, expressed the core proposition of international cultural exchange. Ningbo jumped out of the short-term thinking of "organizing activities" and used the systematic solution of "building mechanism, promoting long-term effect and strengthening connection" to transform cultural exchange from a fleeting "flash in the pan" to a "long-flowing stream" rooted in people’s hearts, and wrote a unique "Ningbo answer" on the answer sheet of foreign cultural exchange.

Take root in subtleties and make cultural exchanges "close". The practice in Ningbo is to make a "big article" from a "small incision". The global layout of "one meter space" is the vivid landing of the "people-oriented" concept of humanistic economics. These "never-ending booths" have no sense of grand narrative distance, but only the temperature that can be touched at the fingertips, embedding the customs of Ningbo into the daily life of ordinary people overseas, so that civilizations can learn from each other in the square inch of "one meter" and grow the most vivid vitality.

The picture shows the employees of Xilin Logistics Handling Equipment (Cambodia) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Ningbo Ruyi Co., Ltd., taking a group photo in the "one meter space".

Supported by the system, let civilizations learn from each other. "Mutual learning between civilizations requires long-term persistence and more institutionalized guarantee". Ningbo knows this well, and builds a "long-term dam" for cultural exchanges with a black-and-white cooperation agreement.

The "quarterly graphic printing experience and half-year photographer salon" agreed by Ningbo and Spain-China Friendship Investment Promotion Association has changed "Ningbo in Light and Shadow" from a static exhibition to a dynamic dialogue; After the Osaka World Expo, the experience of "culture+industry" was copied to 14 key exhibitions in Japan.

The picture shows Antonio (first from the right), president of the Spanish China Friendship Association and former member of the Madrid Region, praising the special exhibition of "Ningbo in the Light and Shadow" in Spain.

Relying on people’s hearts to connect, let the agreement between mountains and seas "last". "The friendship between countries lies in the people’s blind date, and the people’s blind date lies in the heart connection", which is more lasting than the system and is the connection between people across mountains and seas. This is the soul of Ningbo’s cultural exchange-Antonio announced "going to China in October" with a "two birds in the morning" fan, Professor Damaso joked "flying to Ningbo in an hour", Zhan Zhukangda, chairman of East International Catering Company, calculated "bringing ham for Ningbo’s cabbage cake", and Carmen, vice president of Huawei Spain, bluntly "read the interesting soul of Ningbo".

These impromptu and sincere agreements, together with Mario Lazany, a former Italian parliamentarian in Florence who traveled to and from Ningbo for 68 times in 22 years, and the teenagers of China, Japan and South Korea who painted long ink scrolls together, constitute a "group portrait" of Ningbo civilization. Here, cultural exchange is no longer a cold agenda, but a warm interaction of "you bring ham and I bring cabbage cakes", a persistent persistence of "68 round trips", a concern between people and a fetter between cities.

The wind comes from the East China Sea. This city, which has a collection of ancient and modern Hong Kong and connects the world, is proved by solid practice that mutual learning among civilizations is never a gorgeous slogan, but a vivid practice of humanistic economics and a vivid interpretation of "each has its own beauty, the United States and the United States share the same". Ningbo’s password is, after all, a "people-oriented" solution-to ensure long-term effectiveness by mechanism, to convey temperature by details, to build a solid foundation by people’s hearts, to make cultural exchanges a bridge across mountains and seas, and to make civilizations learn from each other and grow into endless forces.