The 2026 Duisburg China Festival opened on Friday afternoon in Duisburg, Germany, with a vibrant display of cultural exchange aimed at strengthening ties between China and Germany. The three-day event, which features cultural booths and interactive zones, offers attendees a taste of traditional Chinese cuisine, culture, and contemporary art.
On Friday evening, the festival's opening gala was staged by top-tier performing arts troupes from Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei Province. Nearly 40 artists presented more than a dozen programs, ranging from Peking opera, Hanju opera, and Chuju opera to acrobatics and ethnic song and dance. The performance left a deep impression on Duisburg Mayor Soeren Link, who called the gala "unforgettable for its standard, quality, richness, and the many different facets it presented."
Chang Haitao, acting consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in Dusseldorf, described the festival as "a vivid expression of exchange between China and Germany," allowing Germans to experience and understand China up close. The festival also highlighted the long-standing relationship between Duisburg and Wuhan, which became sister cities in 1982—the first such partnership between Germany and China. Since then, the two cities have maintained close people-to-people and economic exchanges.
Mayor Link emphasized the importance of the sister-city relationship, stating that Duisburg "attaches great importance" to it and hopes to continue strengthening German-Chinese friendship as well as exchange and dialogue between the two sides. Markus Teuber, commissioner for China affairs at the Mayor's Office of Duisburg, noted that the rich array of theatrical, song, and dance performances offered German audiences an excellent window into Chinese culture. He expressed hope that the two cities would continue to deepen cultural exchange in the future.
For Yang Jing, deputy director of the Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Wuhan's participation in the festival "marks an important step in Wuhan culture's global outreach." The Duisburg China Festival is an annual signature cultural event for the city, injecting fresh grassroots momentum into the development of German-Chinese friendship.
