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Chinese bloggers explore Belarusian castles, culture, heritage

MINSK, 9 September (BelTA) – Chinese bloggers visited the Nesvizh Castle and Mir Castle as part of a familiarization tour on 9 September, BelTA has learned.

The Nesvizh Castle, founded in the 16th century and reopened after restoration in the 2000s, offered the guests a tour of about 20 halls.

“We tried to surprise them and designed the tour in a way that would give them as many emotions as possible. They were impressed by our authentic Great Fireplace Hall, while they had many questions when visiting the Golden Hall, where we tell the story of Barbara Radziwill,” tour guide Viktoria Lozinska said.

The bloggers saw props from the theater of Urszula Radziwill, unique frescoes on the walls of the private chapel, where services are still held once a year, items from private collections, tapestries and much more.

At Mir Castle, the tour participants received an unusual welcome: as distinguished guests, they were greeted with cannon fire.

According to Aleksandr Loiko, director of the museum, Belarusian-Chinese cooperation has a long history.

“We have established ties with Guangzhou Province, where there is a similar castle with a 700-year history. Four years ago, renowned Chinese artist Wu Weishan presented our museum with a painting titled The Sacred Castle, depicting Mir Castle, which inspired him,” he said.

“By the way, the last owner of Mir Castle, the Svyatopolk-Mirsky, was a diplomat and also served as ambassador to China. Our guidebooks are available in Chinese, and we are also ready to offer audio guides to tourists from China,” he said.

The staff of Mir Castle sought to make the tour more than just an informative introduction to the site and its fascinating history, adding interactive elements that transported visitors back to the era of the Radziwills, who made the castle their country residence.

Sharing her impressions, travel blogger Qin Xing Zhang noted that she had known very little about Belarus before, but now she had the chance to see it all with her own eyes and share it with her audience.

“I love beautiful content, vivid photos, and beautiful people. I see and film all of this in Belarus. I may even post the first video from our trip today. But such a journey is not only about emotions. It is an opportunity to understand the path the country has taken in its development and how it managed to preserve such a rich heritage,” she said.

Tanxuan said that on such trips she usually focuses on nature and cultural and historical events that tell the story of a new country.

“Everything I saw today is very different from the places I have already visited. The castles in Nesvizh and Mir really impressed me, the interactive elements of the program, which allowed us to dive into the atmosphere of the era, added to the emotions. I was particularly interested in the dance workshops. I will try to post it on my blog,” Tanxuan said.

She also said she had enjoyed trying Belarusian cuisine. Although the combination of ingredients seemed unusual to her, she found it very pleasant.

The tour, which started on 7 September, was organized by the National Tourism Agency with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the People’s Republic of China and Belarusbank. The participants have already visited Lyaskovichi in Gomel Oblast and Pripyatsky National Park, where they took a walk through a real Belarusian bog. The bloggers still have a busy schedule ahead; and it’s packed with opportunities to create content about Belarus.