Sri Lanka a true “Wonder of Asia”

Sri Lanka – the Wonder of Asia, a promotional event organized in Beijing, with a rich ambiance of her culture, heritage & cuisine very confidently placed this exquisite island in the Indian Ocean, as a truly miracle destination in Asia.

Spearheaded by the Embassy of Sri Lanka, this event was staged on 5th March 2010 in the prestigious China World Hotel. The tag-line for the evening was aptly introduced in keeping with the vision of President Rajapaksa, to place Sri Lanka as “the emerging wonder of Asia”.

Flowing from this vision and understanding the very need to establish an iconic image to introduce Sri Lanka to the Chinese people, the event portrayed the mystique Sigiriya with its frescos as its theme.

Organized on the occasion to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the independence of Sri Lanka and the 53rd Year of Establishing Diplomatic Relations with China, the evening attracted a very distinguished gathering of closer to 500 persons representing Ministers, foreign Ambassadors, and top ranking Government officials, persons dominating the travel trade, the business community and the entrepreneurs.

The Chief Guest on the occasion was Zhang Zhi Jun, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Government. While congratulating Sri Lanka, for the success achieved in eradicating terrorism from her soil, he pledged China’s continuous support for economic development and building a mutually beneficial partnership between the two countries.

Ambassador Karunatilaka Amunugama, speaking on the occasion, emphasized that for the first time in almost 3 decades, Sri Lanka was not under the shadow of terrorism and that the 62nd anniversary is celebrated with a great sense of oneness and pride. He reiterated that with the resounding electoral victory for President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the recently concluded Presidential elections, a new era of peace & hope has dawned in the country to achieve prosperity, which the people so richly deserve.

In the context of bilateral relations, he spoke of the time honored partnership and the friendship between the two countries which had been nurtured under the care of leaders of both countries and the assistance extended by the Chinese Government in protecting Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Ambassador also wished China a successful launching of the Expo 2010 in Shanghai in May and the Asian Games in Guangzhou in October this year. He reiterated that Sri Lanka looked on with much anticipation to participate in these two events.

Ambassador Amunugama also noted that the promotional exercise in Beijing certainly enriched the efforts of the Tourism Promotional Authority to position Sri Lanka as the Destination to Visit in 2011 amongst the Chinese traveller.

Set against the Sigiriya rock standing solitarily and majestically as the backdrop, one of the most prominent tourism attractions of Sri Lankan history, the dancers of the Channa-Upuli Performing Arts Foundation and the troupe of Ravibandu Vidyapathy captivated the attention of the audience with scintillating music and dance performances and a mixture of traditional and contemporary drum beats that kept the audience spell-bound. The Chefs of Mount Lavinia Hotel catered for the evening with spice infused Sri Lanka, cuisine introducing many a favourite mouth watering dishes of Sri Lanka to the invitees.

The foyer area of the China World Hotel, was decorated fittingly to promote Sri Lanka as a key tourist destination in Asia, simultaneously focusing on her strengths for trade & investment promotion. The Photographic Exhibition captioned “Sri Lanka – Love at First Sight” most appropriately promoted the country as a wedding destination capturing through the lens of the Chinese photographers visiting Sri Lanka on familiarization tours, the beauty and the exotic nature of the country. In blending with this tourisitic theme, were the trade displays created by the commercial section of the Embassy, displaying a couple of booths in showcasing Sri Lanka’s targeted export items to China such as Ceylon tea in different flavors etc.

In adding further to the wonder of the evening the drummers of Sri Lanka and China portrayed their strength and unity through a synchronized item of harmonious beats.

Certain Chinese Institutes in the fields of culture, trade & investment, education & training etc. were felicitated for the contributions made towards enhancing people to people interactions. The convener of the Sri Lanka community in Beijing was also felicitated for the efforts made in bringing the expat Sri Lankans together with the patronage of the Embassy.

The Mission of Sri Lanka together with Sri Lankan Airlines and the promotional agencies such as Sri Lanka Tourism Promotional Bureau have been making a valiant effort in the past three years by organizing an event of a grand scale annually to focus the country in China, particularly due to the great potentials emerging with China as a key outbound tourist destination. The figures indicate a major surge in Chinese outbound tourism projecting approx a movement of over 48 million persons annually which they expect to rise up to 52 million this year, with good spending ability. Sri Lanka’s neighbours such as India and Maldives are already established destinations for Chinese travellers. Under such circumstances in organizing unique focused events promoting Sri Lanka as an appealing exotic island would attract more Chinese travellers to the country.

In conjunction with the Sri Lanka evening, the Mount Lavinia Hotel has also collaborated with the China World Hotel hosted a week long food festival promoting Sri Lanka cuisine and introduced signature dishes such as hoppers, ambulthial stringhopper pillau, Kottu etc. which satisfied the Chinese consumer amply.

Gallery – Click on picture to zoom.

- Asian Tribune -