The 3rd Maritime Silk Road International Art Festival kicked off in Quanzhou, a port city in Southeast China's Fujian province on Dec 10.

The starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD), Quanzhou is an important harbor and famous historical and cultural city. In 2014, it was selected as the permanent host city of the Maritime Silk Road International Art Festival.

This year, with over 2,000 artists from the countries along the Road in attendance, the festival is set to stage another grand audiovisual treat.

Activities such as forums, exhibitions, and local Quanzhou folk cultural performances will be held alongside the art displays, making it a more culturally diversified event for the artists.

The festival is a national level cultural program under the umbrella of the Belt and Road Initiative, a key project that aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes, and serves as an important platform for cultural and artistic communication and exchanges between the countries along the 21 century Maritime Silk Road.

Face the Sea, a large cultural performance depicting the history of the ancient Maritime Silk Road and its city of origin, Quanzhou, is staged during the opening ceremony of the 3rd Maritime Silk Road International Art Festival on Dec 10. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]