Wei Jie

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UPON entering the Shekou Subdistrict Comprehensive Cultural Service Center, which was inaugurated Saturday, American visitor Khashi Shahbazi was struck by its scale. “I didn’t expect it to be so large inside,” he remarked.

The 1,500-sqm center on Wanxia Road, occupying two floors, features separate zones dedicated to exhibitions, lectures, dance, choir, painting and calligraphy, study, and a library.

The opening day was built around an immersive art experience. An intangible cultural heritage exhibition on L2 brought together regional traditions such as Foshan lion dance, Lingnan fish lanterns, and Sanzao paper-cutting. These exhibits were integrated into stage works including “Wing Chun” and “Awakened Lion,” alongside a pipa performance.

Shahbazi, a resident of Shekou, and several other expats touring the center were drawn to a demonstration of the Chaoshan thread-drawing craft. “They look so real,” Shahbazi said.

Simultaneously on L3, visitors found guqin recitals, parent-child English sessions, paper-cutting workshops, and multi-genre dance showcases in the reading area, study rooms, painting and calligraphy studio, and dance classroom.

A mini art-salon concert that followed featured some 20 artists from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao performing a mix of folk, ethnic, and international works, from Latin dance to a string quartet rendition of Mozart’s “Serenade,” underlining the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s cultural inclusiveness and creative vitality.

Shekou Subdistrict officials said the new facility will serve as a springboard to expand public cultural services and strengthen regional artistic exchange networks, providing a permanent venue for community engagement and cross-border collaboration.

Add: L2 and L3, podium of Block 3, Shekou Mansion housing estate, No. 72 Wanxia Road, Shekou, Nanshan District (蛇口街道综合性文化服务中心).

Metro: Line 2 to Dongjiaotou Station (东角头站), Exit D.