China News Service, Lishui, November 14 (Hu Fengsheng) As night falls, a beam of light shines high into the sky at Qiaobo Square in Qingtian, Zhejiang. Liu Bowen and Tianyu girl met "through time", the fish lanterns were circulating, the band started singing, and the aroma of coffee and red wine were intertwined among the European-style buildings. From November 13th to 14th, the "Overseas Chinese Expo Night" of the 8th Overseas Chinese Imported Goods Expo and Qingtian Imported Wine Fair (referred to as the Overseas Chinese Expo) was staged here. The main stage was surrounded by citizens and tourists on three floors inside and three outside.
Lu Wei, together with Luigi, Natalie, Yong Ge and other Chinese and foreign people, were hired as Qingtian cultural tourism promotion officers.
"We want to use such an event to enhance the atmosphere of the Overseas Chinese Expo." Standing outside the crowd, Jin Xukai, a staff member of the Qingtian County Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau, said in an interview with China News Service.
Qingtian is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese, with 380,000 overseas Chinese spread all over the world. This year's Overseas Chinese Expo has six major exhibition areas: overseas wineries, coffee industry chain, good things going overseas, overseas Chinese expo market, imported high-quality products, and cultural tourism activities. It has invited more than 500 domestic and foreign exhibitors, and more than 150 various chambers of commerce, industry associations, and overseas Chinese businessmen and overseas Chinese organizations.
This year, Qingtian's "Overseas Chinese Expo Night" specially designed a high-altitude plot interpretation by Wia, allowing Liu Bowen and Tian Yu to connect Qingtian's historical context, rice and fish agricultural heritage, and overseas Chinese trade around the world in a time-space dialogue. "It's not just about watching the excitement, but also about letting merchants and tourists remember Qingtian's cultural background." Jin Xukai said.
On one side of the stage, four major cultural interactive experience areas are arranged in sequence. In the Qiaoji European Style District, there are queues for coffee-flavored brand DIY; in the Daoxiang Yuyue District, parents take their children to make fish lanterns; in the Bowen Qizhi District, the beating sound of rubbing poems can be heard; in the Shiyun Liufang District, the Qingtian stone engraving experience is open to a limited number of people every day. Ms. Chen from Wenzhou held up a newly made fish lantern to take photos. “I originally came to visit the Overseas Chinese Expo exhibition hall, but ended up spending the whole night here.”
A DJ bus equipped with professional sound and lighting slowly started to move. This bus, called the "Mobile Concert Hall", connects core nodes such as the high-speed rail station, Qiaobo Plaza, Qiaoxiang Imported Commodity City, and European-style streets, allowing citizens and tourists to hop on and off. “Young people especially like it when we come all the way from the high-speed rail station to disco dancing,” the driver said with a smile.
Qiaobo Plaza, which has just been officially put into use, is a story in itself. This building with a total construction area of approximately 35,000 square meters was designed by French architect and Qingtian son-in-law Olivier Greder (Chinese name, Lu Wei). The iconic "Big A" arched main body is intertwined with 8 covered bridges. In May 2026, it won the Architizer A+Awards Special Nomination Award. The award is known as the "Oscars of Architecture." At the cultural tourism promotion meeting on the evening of November 13, Lu Wei, together with Luigi, Natalie, Yong Ge and other Chinese and foreign people, were hired as Qingtian cultural tourism promotion officers. He said: "Qingtian is a unique city that you will fall in love with once you come here. This city has the warmth and warmth of Chongqing, the landscape of Lishui, and the entrepreneurial spirit of Wenzhou people."
Because of his transnational marriage to his wife, Lu Wei is deeply bound to Qingtian. He not only designed Qingtian Qiaobo Plaza, but also designed landmark buildings such as the Cultural Auditorium and the Qingtian Rice-Fish Symbiosis System Museum for his wife’s hometown, integrating French aesthetics with overseas Chinese culture. In his eyes, this county-level city with 380,000 overseas Chinese connected to the world is a treasure city. "I designed Qiaobo Plaza as an open and coherent block, just like the temperament of this city: openness and tolerance." In Lu Wei's eyes, this hometown of overseas Chinese has its own light and huge potential. "Just like the Chinese people often say, 'If you bloom, the breeze will come.' This overseas Chinese city is radiating its own light."
