Rabat, Morocco - September 11, 2024

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Chinese Cultural Center in Morocco's capital Rabat held a special gala event on Wednesday to celebrate the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival with the locals.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese lunar calendar, which is next Tuesday this year. For Chinese people, it is of special ethical significance, and family reunion on this occasion lying deep in their consciousness has been a sentiment and mindset for hundreds of years.

The colorful and joyous show at Bahnini Hall featured a series of distinctive artistic performances, reflecting Chinese cultural heritage and enhancing the cultural exchanges between China and the North African country.

The musical celebration combined the cultures of the two countries. Moroccan youths joined dozens of Chinese artists and performed traditional Chinese and Moroccan songs.

The gala evening drew more than 400 spectators from many regions of Morocco.

Shotlist:
Rabat, Morocco - Sept 11, 2024:
1. Various of dancing performance on Mid-Autumn Festival Gala at China Cultural Center in Rabat in progress; audience recording, applauding;
2. SOUNDBITE (French) Li Changlin, Chinese Ambassador to Morocco:
"The cultural aspect plays a very important role in the intensification and diversification of the relations between our two countries and two peoples.";
3. Various of artists singing, playing instrument;
4. Audience applauding;
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Li Cangxiao, Chinese artist (partially overlaid with shot 6):
"So we are very excited to be here. A very different country and a very different culture here. So we are very surprised and excited.";
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
6. Various of performance in progress;
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
7. Various of magic show;
8. Audience applauding;
9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Yi Lin, Chinese Artist (partially overlaid with shot 10):
"This time we visited Morocco to perform and we have discovered that the Moroccan audience is very enthusiastic and active. We really appreciate it. Morocco is a very beautiful country and Rabat is also a quite pretty city. We had a great time putting on the show. We thank local audience's warm applause. We are grateful that the China Cultural Center invited us here to present such a wonderful concert.";
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
10. Various of performance in progress;
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
11. Various of performance in progress; audience applauding;
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ihsanne Benghanem, Moroccan spectator (starting with shot 11/partially overlaid with shot 13):
"China's Cultural Center in Rabat today has organized an amazing artistic and musical show to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival which is one of the most important festivals in China. This is a great opportunity for the Moroccan public to better know Chinese culture and traditions during this happy time of the year.";
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
13. Various of performance in progress;
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE]
14. Audience taking photos;
15. Dancing performance in progress;
16. Artists, distinguished guests taking group photos.

[Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]