Nanjing opened the City Wall Music Festival at Zhonghua Gate in partnership with York, the UK on May 23, which also marked the first anniversary of the Nanjing City Wall Museum.

The festival was organized by the Foreign Affairs Office of Nanjing Municipal People's Government, Nanjing Culture and Tourism Department and Nanjing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

York boasts beautifully preserved walls, the longest medieval town walls in England. Similarly, Nanjing is famous for the city wall built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), which holds an important position in China's long history of city planning and city wall construction. The two cities have fostered a friendship while preserving their respective historical heritage.

(Photo from Nanjing Foreign Affairs Office)

During the music festival, a group of teenagers with Chinese family backgrounds performed two traditional Chinese folk music pieces, "Jasmine" and "Pastoral Song," near the city wall in York.

In Nanjing, more than 70 Chinese and foreign students from Nanjing International School, Nanjing Little Red Flower Art Troupe, and the Institute of International Education at Nanjing University of the Arts played music near the ancient city wall.

As part of the event, the Nanjing City Wall Protection Management Center and the Organizing Committee of York Walls Festival signed a letter of intent to enhance exchange and cooperation in the preservation of the wall.

To celebrate the first anniversary, the museum will host an exhibition featuring cultural relics from the Yongle reign in the Ming Dynasty.