DONGYING -- The Yellow River Culture Forum, under the theme of "Promoting the Yellow River Culture and Telling the Yellow River Stories," opened in Dongying City in east China's Shandong Province on Tuesday.

Guests and representatives from China and overseas conducted a series of exchanges and discussions on these two topics.

Flowing through nine provinces and regions, the Yellow River serves as a large waterway in northern China. It's believed to be the cradle of the Chinese civilization that has nourished people of different eras for thousands of years and witnessed the evolution of remarkable cultures along the river route.

The participants in the forum discussed how these cultures were influencing China and the world today.

"We can see such a large nation as the Chinese nation and all aspects of China, including nature and culture, have a profound impact on the entire humankind. China is developing the Yellow River culture and promoting the environmental management of the Yellow River Basin," said Burkhard Risse, a Chinese-German translator for the Foreign Languages Press.

They also mentioned that at present, the international reputation of the Yellow River needs to be improved.
Some said it was necessary to make better use of the Yellow River Cultural Park, so that people from all over the world could fully experience the beauty of the Yellow River.

It was necessary, they argued, to strengthen the ways the Yellow River culture is promoted globally. And this could be done through modern methods.

"People might feel that telling the story of the Yellow River as our 'mother river' should be done in a traditional way, but we have new technologies such as 5G omni-media, ChatGPT and Metaverse. I think the most important innovation should focus on technology. We need to apply the latest media technology to create immersive communication and integrate with artificial intelligence," said Dong Guanpeng, dean of the Institute of International Public Relations and Strategic Communication at the Communication University of China.

During the forum, a series of cooperation agreements were signed to promote and tell stories about Yellow River culture, engage in more exchanges in the fields of cultural and tourism development, and work together on the protection of cultural relics.

Besides panel discussions, the forum has organized some guests and representatives to conduct field survey into the ecology and culture of the Yellow River Delta.