2006-09-04

Film about Latvia broadcast in China

On 3 September 2006, the Chinese TV channel Travel Channel started broadcast of the film Love Latvia. The film is dedicated to the 15th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Latvia and China and, for the first time in the history of diplomatic relations between both countries, familiarises the Chinese TV audience with the culture of Latvia.

Love Latvia consists of four parts: two of these reflect the architecture and lifestyle of Riga, and relate the history of the city; the next part shows the City of Jurmala, and the concluding part shows Latvia's ancient castles and parks together with an insight into medieval traditions. The film will be broadcast during the month of September with one Sunday being allocated to each part of the film, and three repetitions to be shown on working days. The language track of Love Latvia is made in Chinese thus allowing the Chinese people not only to visually appraise the wealth of Latvian culture and nature, but also to go deeper into the diversity of the culture and history of Latvia.

The film was created on the joint initiative of the administration of the TV program Better House Around the World and the Latvian Embassy in China. The Latvian Foreign Ministry and a number of other Latvian public and private agencies supported shooting of the film. At the beginning of July, this year, the film crew of the program Better House Around the World arrived in Latvia and prepared more than seven hours of material which served as the basis not only for the film Love Latvia, but also for a would-be CD on opportunities for economic co-operation with Latvia.