Expats enthralled by dynamic Wuxi

A prosperous area in the Jiangnan region, Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province is also known as "the pearl of Taihu Lake" because of its vitality and beautiful sceneries.

A group of expats from 11 countries embarked on the latest two-day GoJiangsu trip on March 18 at Wuxi's Bodu River Park, where they were mesmerized by groups of energetic exercisers.

Salikhov Amir, a travel and photography enthusiast from Russia, said, "In Russia, people don't train together like that in parks. They don't smile that much. But here (in Wuxi) everybody is smiling."

At the park, the expats tried square dancing,baduanjin, a traditional Chinese form of aerobics, and shisuo, a stone dumbbell shaped like an old-fashioned padlock.

After cheering for runners at the 2023 COLMO Wuxi Marathon the following day, the expats broke a sweat and showed off their high kicks at the World Taekwondo (Wuxi) Center under the tutelage of two Chinese national champions Wu Ruidong and Yu Xiaohui.

Jihane Chiaar from Morocco, who is pursuing her bachelor's degree at the Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, said that she has been practicing taekwondo for almost eight years and that she enjoyed training with the Chinese taekwondo experts.

Wuxi culture was another theme of the GoJiangsu trip. At the Meicun Erhu Industrial Park, these expats watched as craftsmen put together an erhu, a two-stringed bowed traditional Chinese musical instrument. At the final stop of the trip at Hongshan Museum, they admired cultural relics that date back more than 2,000 years.

Following the trip, Panamanian Guerra Marín Ruth Julie expressed her astonishment at the richness of China's culture and said she enjoyed experiencing the crafting process of erhu.

Since the Jiangsu Provincial Government and China Daily website launched the Go Jiangsu trip in 2018, more than 200 expats from over 20 countries have been invited to experience the province's profound culture and beautiful sceneries.