Antigua.news Writer Cory Wayland Heads to China for Caribbean Media Programme

Antigua.news writer Cory Wayland will depart for China on Thursday, October 8, to participate in a programme bringing together Caribbean media personalities and online opinion leaders for an extensive series of cultural, educational and industry visits.

Organised by the China Public Diplomacy Association, the Training Program for Self-Media Opinion Leaders from Caribbean Countries runs from October 10 to 24, with activities scheduled in Beijing, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Shandong Province.

According to the organisers, the programme aims to strengthen people-to-people ties between China and the Caribbean, allowing participants to meet people from different walks of life and explore Chinese heritage, development and modernization.

Wayland’s participation will place an Antigua.news representative among Caribbean participants examining those subjects firsthand through discussions, institutional visits and travel across several Chinese cities.

The programme will be conducted in English and includes sessions on China–Caribbean relations and five programmes aimed at building closer cooperation between China and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Participants are scheduled to arrive in Beijing on October 10 and attend an introductory session that evening. A visit to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall follows on October 11.

On October 12, the itinerary includes the “Linjia No. 7 Salon,” focusing on China’s relations with Latin America and the Caribbean. Participants will also visit Robot World and an exhibition hall within an automated driving demonstration area before attending an opening ceremony and working dinner.

The delegation is then scheduled to fly to Kashgar in Xinjiang on October 13, beginning that portion of the visit with an evening tour of the ancient city.

Activities in and around Kashgar will cover traditional crafts, agriculture and heritage preservation. Planned stops include the Shufu County Ethnic Musical Instrument Village, Jiangguoguo Agricultural Technology Company and the Shule County Shunfa Modern Vegetable Industrial Park.

Participants will also visit a memorial hall devoted to the protection and management of Kashgar’s old town, the Idgar Mosque and Xiangfei Garden.

The programme moves to Urumqi on October 15, where the itinerary includes an exhibition presenting China’s counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts in Xinjiang, the Urumqi Planning Exhibition Hall and a themed exhibition celebrating the autonomous region’s 70th anniversary.

A working dinner with officials from Xinjiang’s Foreign Affairs Office is also scheduled.

Further visits will take participants to the Xinjiang Islamic Institute, textile equipment producer Saurer Intelligent Technology Company, the Yuejin Street South Community, Urumqi No. 126 Middle School and the Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar.

Before leaving the region on October 17, the group is expected to visit the Xinjiang Arts Institute and China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation.

The next leg will take Wayland and the other participants to Jinan in Shandong Province, where cultural visits include Baotu Spring, Daming Lake, Baihuazhou Historic Street and Shandong Museum.

The Shandong programme also includes a stop at the China–Caribbean Development Center, connecting the visit directly with the broader theme of cooperation between China and the region.

Technology and industry will feature through visits to the Future Technology Exhibition Hall of Shandong Heavy Industry and the Freda Zhimei Science and Technology Park.

The following day’s activities will focus on commerce, with visits to Linyi Trade City and the Linyi E-commerce Live-streaming Base. The latter will offer participants an opportunity to observe a setting where online broadcasting and commercial activity intersect.

The itinerary also includes the former residence of calligrapher Wang Xizhi and the Han Dynasty Bamboo Slips Museum before the group returns to Beijing on October 22.

Final visits on October 23 will take participants to the Palace Museum and the National Meteorological Center. A graduation ceremony and working dinner are scheduled that evening, with departures planned for October 24.

For Wayland, the visit provides an opportunity to engage with fellow Caribbean media participants while gaining firsthand exposure to the places and institutions included in the organisers’ programme.