On the morning of May 8, 2024 local time, Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping visited upon invitation the National Museum of Serbia with Tamara Vučić, wife of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, in Belgrade.
The wives of the two heads of state toured the museum's classic paintings exhibition together. Peng Liyuan expressed appreciation of the long history and abundant collections of the museum, and the intricate details and rich emotions embodied in the classic paintings. She noted that museums are not only places for preserving and displaying cultural relics, but also important venues for promoting civilizations. She expressed the hope for enhanced cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Serbia to jointly build bridges for inter-civilization dialogue.
They also watched demonstrations of Serbian women's traditional hand weaving and warmly conversed with them. Peng Liyuan said the exquisite and distinctive craftsmanship of Serbian hand weaving is an important intangible cultural heritage that has been well preserved and promoted. Noting the similarities between Chinese and Serbian embroidery cultures, she suggested the two sides strengthen exchanges and mutual learning in this regard, and encourage the active participation of the young people of the two countries so as to preserve and pass on the traditional handicrafts from generation to generation. The wives of the two heads of state also enthusiastically tried making Serbian felt balls amid a warm and friendly atmosphere.
Established in 1844, the National Museum of Serbia houses over 400,000 artifacts, making it the largest and oldest museum in Serbia.
