'Experience China' debuts at Times Square

Footages of a short film promoting China (L) are shown on the screens at the Times Square in New York, USA, Jan 17, 2011. The video will be on until Feb 14, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

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A video show about Chinese people made its debut on screens at Times Square on Monday, presenting Americans a multi-dimensional and vivid image of Chinese people.

With China's traditional red as the theme color, the 60-second video was shown on six screens simultaneously at Times Square with a billboard written "Experience China" on top of the screens. The show highlights Chinese ordinary people and some important figures recognized by the international community, including Chinese pianist Lang Lang, basketball player Yao Ming and Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei, etc.

"The layout of the video is quite smart. I like it," Charlotte Mcguckin, 18, a high school student in New York, told Xinhua, adding that "everyone (in the video) looks happy."

"Look, that's Yao Ming. I can recognize him, and also the female table tennis player standing beside him. She is very famous, " she said, pointing to the giant screen. "I learned in class that US and China started diplomatic ties from playing the table tennis," she smiled.

For Si Yaqin, who came to New York with her son for vacation, watching the debut of the video is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. "It's my first time to New York, first time to Times Square," she said. "How lucky I am here to witness this moment. I feel so proud as a Chinese."

The video is part of the public diplomacy campaign by the Chinese government ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's US state visit. The video will be shown at Times Square 15 times every hour from 6 am to 2 am next day, totaling 20 hours and 300 times a day. It will last till Feb 14 with a total of 8,400 times of show time.

Meanwhile, CNN also plans to run the video from Jan 17 to Feb 13.