Taiwan Merchants Trace Cultural Roots in Central China"These are examples of Yangshao Culture and bone inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty. They were only historical names to me before I came here," said many Taiwan business people during their recent visit to cultural relics and museums in central China's Henan province.They were surprised at tens of thousands of cultural relics on display at the Henan Museum, the largest museum in central China. "I have been to museums in the U.S, but they have left me no deep impression. However, when I come here, I recalled memories of my childhood," said Wang Yide, chief representative of the Taiwan Delta Electronics Group to Beijing, who has lived in the US for more than twenty years. "It is so great that all of these are made by us Chinese," he said. The mission visited a couple of famous historic sites including Luoyang and Kaifeng, capitals of ancient dynasties, and Shaolin Temple, known as the birthplace of Chinese Kung Fu. "I will bring my children here in the future to let them learn more about Chinese people's lives and what the ancient Chinese culture is like," said Cai Wenrong, acting manager of Taiwan Yulon Motor Co. Ltd., before the statue of Bao Zhen, an outstanding upright official in Chinese history, whose stories are widely known in Taiwan. Wang Renquan, a chief official with a Taiwan food business company, found comparisons between soup-like dishes in Luoyang city and similar dishes back home. "It is most likely that the dishes in Taiwan come from Luoyang," said Wang, a veteran specialist in food processing. Zhang Hanwen, Chairman of Taiwan-invested Enterprises Association in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong province, said that Taiwan business people come to the mainland to make money. Many have, however, neglected their cultural heritage in the process. He expressed his wish to write an article introducing this trip and encourage more Taiwanese to come to the mainland and trace their roots. During this trip, the merchants also met Wang Guangya, a famous educationist from Taiwan. Wang has spent over 200 million yuan (24 million US dollars) in setting up a college in Zhengzhou and the college now enrolls more than 6,000 students. "You do business and I run colleges, but both of us are working for our motherland," said Wang Guangya. |
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