As the host of 2017 Fortune Global Forum, Guangzhou now is having a series of road shows all over the world, with its promotion video being played on Times Square screen, BBC and other platforms.
Guangzhou’s promotion video is named “Guangzhou, Flower City in Bloom”. On GDToday alone, the video has garnered over 150,000 views in less than one week in early June.
In the video, the city’s beauty, energy, openness and amity are embodied in the love story between a Chinese lady and a foreign man. Some of you may feel that the romance is too good to be true, but, Tomas and Rao Min, the leading actor and actress of the video, have been married for 3 years in real life.
Believing that “Canton Tower is the No.1 building in the world”, Tomas from Lithuania has a great liking for Guangzhou’s modern side while Rao Min is a Guangzhou local who was born and grew up in the city’s old district.
To some extent, the city’s combination of tradition and modernity and its trend of internationalization can be traced in this Lithuania-Guangzhou marriage.
Q&A
Newsgd.com: What is the main idea of the Guangzhou promotion video?
Tomas: I think it shows how beautiful Guangzhou is. Not only the buildings, places, but its history, too. Guangzhou is one of the best places in the world to do business. It is not only beautiful, but has a lot of opportunities here.
Tomas and Rao Min accept Newsgd.com's interview.
Newsgd.com: The video now is very popular on the Internet. Many people said that they were really impressed by the beauty of Guangzhou. But some said that they wanted to see more Guangzhou details, like the traditional part. What are your opinions on such comments?
Rao Min: If the time of the video can be longer, it can show more about Guangzhou. More Guangzhou details can be put into it. But this 5-min video has already showed a very amazing Guangzhou.
Tomas: Actually in Guangzhou, there are a lot of really nice places, nice views, like Canton Tower, IFC building. If you want to show a full Guangzhou, it may need a movie. The 5 minutes already show enough.
Tomas and Rao Min disclose the secret behind the video.
Newsgd.com: Have Tomas received some feedback from your foreign friend circle?
Tomas: After this video was posted, everybody sent messages to me by WeChat or even by Facebook. Actually many people are interested in it. Really a lot of people said that they wanted to come to Guangzhou or even come back. One of them said, “I wish I can come back, but now I have a family or something. Maybe next time.”
Newsgd.com: Could you name one building which you believe should be the landmark or the symbol of the city?
Tomas: I think it is the Canton Tower. When I first came to Guangzhou, I knew this building, but I didn’t know Guangzhou exactly.
Newsgd.com: Could you share your love story with us? Is it just like what you act in the video, you meet each other somewhere in the city and then fall in love with each other?
Rao Min: I think it is destiny. We didn’t meet on the street (like what it is in the video). Long long ago, one night, he was in a friend meeting. We had the same friend. Actually on that night, I didn’t want to go out from home. But my friend said, “Come! Come! Come on”. And I said, “OK. I will just stay for a short time.” Then I went there and we met. At that moment, he even didn’t have the SIM card for phone. (In the party,) he asked my phone number. Next morning when I was still in the bed, (I found) somebody sent me a message. (I realized that) he already bought a phone card and sent message to ask me when we would meet again.
Written by Abby
2017年全球财富论坛即将于12年初在广州举行，广州的“全球路演”也正在有序推进中。广州的城市宣传片也已亮相美国纽约时代广场、BBC和其他平台，向世界展示广东的城市魅力。
广州城市形象宣传片名为《花开广州•盛放世界》。该宣传片本月初在GDToday的公众号一经推出，短短一周内就收获“15万+”阅读量，成为名副其实的爆款。
宣传片以一位中国女子和一位外国男士在广州相遇、相识、相恋的故事为主线，通过他们的视角，勾勒出美丽、活力、开放和友好的广州形象。说到这里，有些人可能会认为，这种浪漫到极致的故事只能出现在电视剧里。然而片中的男女主演Tomas和饶敏现实生活中却是一对婚龄三年的甜蜜夫妻。Tomas来自立陶宛，他对广州现代的一面深深着迷，并认为“广州塔是世界上最棒的建筑”，而他的妻子饶敏，却是一位在广州老城区出生长大的“老广”。
在某种程度上，广州这座城市血液中传统与现代的融合，以及它的国际范似乎能在这个中外婚姻上得到验证。
Newsgd.com: 请问您们认为广州的城市宣传片主要内容是什么？传递了什么精神？
Tomas：我认为它展示了广州的美丽，不光是那些高楼，名胜古迹，还有这座城市的历史。广州是全世界最适合做生意的地方之一。它不仅漂亮，而且充满机遇。
Newsgd.com: 现在这个视频在网上非常火。很多人都说广州太美了，但也有一些表示说想看到更多“老广州”的部分。您们是如何看待这种观点的？
饶敏：如果时长能再长一点，我相信更多广州的细节可以被包含进去。但我认为这五分钟已经呈现了广州的精彩之处。
Tomas：广州有很多非常好玩漂亮的地方，像广州塔、IFC等，如果说要展示广州的每一个方面，恐怕要拍电影才行。
饶敏和Tomas接受南方英文网专访
Newsgd.com: Tomas有没有收到来自你的外国朋友圈的反馈？
Tomas：这条片子播出后，大家都发微信给我或者在Facebook上找我。很多人都很感兴趣，还说他们想要到广州来玩。一个曾经来过广州的朋友还说“哎呀真想回去广州，但我现在有家庭了，下一次吧”。
Newsgd.com: 在你们眼中，最能代表广州的建筑是什么？
Tomas：广州塔。当我第一次来到广州的时候，我就已经知道了这个建筑，但那时我对广州这座城市还不太了解。
饶敏和Tomas畅谈广州市宣传片是如何炼成的
Newsgd.com: 你们的爱情故事是否就像宣传片里演的一样，在广州某个地方相识相爱？
饶敏：我觉得是缘分吧，但是我们（并没有像宣传片中一样）在大街上相遇。我们有一个共同的朋友。那次他刚好在那个朋友的party上。本来那天晚上我是不想出去的，但是我的朋友一直坚持叫我去。我就说“好吧，我就去那待一会儿”。然后我就去了，碰到了他。当时他连电话卡都没有，就问了我的电话号码。隔天早上我还没起床的时候就发现有人给我发了短信。我才发现他已经买了电话卡，然后发短信来问我下一次见面是什么时候。
