On July 10, a welcome exchange event for the 2026 Global Writers in Guangdong Program was held at the Shenzhen Fine Art Institute. Seven writers from APEC member economies, including Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, were invited to take part in the two-month program, which features the "Go Guangdong" field visits and "Guangdong Stories" creative sharing sessions.
Mexican writer Manuel Becerra, visiting Guangdong for the first time, said he was struck by an old tree in a park during a visit to Yumin Village in Luohu District, Shenzhen. To him, the tree reflects Shenzhen's development history and its nature-rooted local spirit. He said his experiences in Shenzhen would inspire his future writing.
After visiting places such as Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and the Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum, Becerra said he was deeply impressed by Shenzhen's technological innovation. Scenes such as drone deliveries and electric vehicles felt new to him and offered a glimpse into the future of urban development.
Singaporean writer Tien Ming Lee is the only participant with a strong science and engineering background. He has long focused on conservation science, sustainable development, and human-land systems coupling. He has also actively promoted research into cultural-ecological communities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Speaking about why he joined the program and field visits, Lee said his long-term interdisciplinary research has strengthened his belief that creativity and knowledge have no boundaries.
At the Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum, AI applications such as quadruped robots caught Lee's attention, prompting him to think about how cutting-edge technologies could be applied to his own research.
Peruvian poet Gian Pierre Codarlupo said he was impressed to see children interacting up close with robots and drones at the Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum. At the technology exhibition hall in Qianhai Block V, he tried an AI real-time translation device. He said technology not only underpins Shenzhen's development but also gives rise to new forms of poetic expression, and this trip has provided fresh material for his writing.
South Korean writer Lee Byung-ryul took a keen interest in an XBot coffee robot that can create custom patterns on coffee using photos uploaded by visitors. "South Koreans love coffee, so this robot would definitely be popular in South Korea," he said.
Indonesian writer and literary curator Saut Situmorang showed great interest in calligraphy documents and ancient Chinese bronze vessel patterns at SUSTech's Learning Nexus Library and the Tao Shuo (Stories of Ceramics) exhibition at SUSTech's School of Humanities and Social Sciences. He said the decorative patterns on ancient Chinese bronze vessels reminded him of designs commonly seen in his own tribe, giving him a sense of cultural connection across regions and time.
He also said that, compared with grand urban landscapes, he is more interested in conversations and exchanges between people, and hopes to experience the more ordinary, everyday charm of China during the upcoming activities.
Video | Lu Li
Video Editor | Wang Shu, Xu Anrui
Text | Zhang Xuanzhen (intern)
