Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the spouses of foreign leaders attending the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, pose for a group photo at the China National Arts and Crafts Museum in Beijing, capital of China, on October 18. Peng Liyuan on the morning of October 18 invited the spouses of foreign leaders attending the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to visit the China National Arts and Crafts Museum (XINHUA)

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the morning of October 18 invited the spouses of foreign leaders attending the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to visit the China National Arts and Crafts Museum.

At an exhibition hall of the museum, also known as the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, Peng and the guests viewed exquisite crafts including jade and wood carvings as well as weaving and embroidery works.

They watched inheritors of intangible cultural heritage display such skills as embroidery and filigree mosaic, and listened to children from southwest China's Guizhou Province sing the Grand Song of the Dong ethnic group.

They were also briefed on traditional Chinese opera and the art of guqin, an ancient seven-stringed zither native to China, and enjoyed performance of guqin playing, Kunqu Opera and Peking Opera.

Noting that culture is the bond that keeps BRI participating countries together for unity and cooperation, Peng said she hopes that cultural interaction will be further strengthened to carry forward traditional friendships and achieve common development.

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the spouses of foreign leaders attending the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, view an exhibit in Beijing, capital of China, on October 18. Peng Liyuan on the morning of October 18 invited the spouses of foreign leaders attending the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to visit the China National Arts and Crafts Museum (XINHUA)