Twenty groups of migrant workers and visitors and their children took part in a summer camp between July 30 and August 2, visiting four major culture and art institutions in Guangzhou.

On July 30, the parents and children read classic stories from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, learned about traffic safety, as well as made thread-bound books and buffer devices at the Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province.

The next day, the families paid a visit to the Guangdong Museum where they viewed two exhibitions, learned to make sailors’ knots and put together dinosaur jigsaw puzzles.

Campers and volunteers pose for a group photo at the Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Parents and children view the dinosaur exhibition at the Guangdong Museum. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

On August 1, campers went to the Guangdong Museum of Art to visit painting exhibitions and made water color paintings and portraits of each other.

On the last day at the Guangdong Culture Center, the campers attended a lecture on Cantonese opera, painted opera facial makeup masks, watched a classic Chinese war movie and told stories about the Red Army.

Children and their parents show their paintings at the Guangdong Museum of Art. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

A child paints an opera facial makeup mask at the Guangdong Culture Center. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

A closing ceremony and an exhibition showcasing all the paintings and artworks by the campers was held at the Center on the afternoon of August 2. The children put on a performance to thank all the staff, volunteers and their parents, and shared their thoughts on their camp experience.

Shan Jingwen, a grade six student from Zengcheng said that the camp was an eye-opener for her. She told the reporter that she had a lot of fun and liked the water color painting activity the best. “I love painting, and I love painting with my mom even more,” Shan said.

Chen Liangyu, a grade four student from Maoming said he enjoyed the camp very much and made many new friends. Chen added that he liked painting an opera facial makeup mask although it was difficult for him.

Six student representatives perform at the closing ceremony. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

People pose for a group photo at the closing ceremony. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

The parents said the camp was beneficial to strengthening their parent-child relationships. Jing Xia, Shan Jingwen’s mother, said that her daughter had a great time at the camp, and she also learned a lot. Jing said that she will spend more quality time with her daughter from now on.

Liu Dan, Chen Liangyu’s mother, told the reporter that both parents and children were required to take part in all the activities together during the camp, which created many opportunities for them to communicate with each other. “This really helps to improve our parent-child relationship,” said Liu.

The camp, which started in 2016, is held annually during the summer break and is hosted by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province and the Civilization Office of Guangdong Province, and organized by Guangdong Province Cultural Volunteer Corps, Guangdong Culture Center, Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Museum and Guangdong Museum of Art.

Author: Monica Liu

Editor: Chris