On November 16, 2015, the Cornerstone Laying Ceremony of the Saudi Arabia King Abdulaziz Public Library PKU Branch was held under a sky dancing with snowflakes. The ceremony contained two parts: The first part was a meeting in the Linhuxuan building; and the second part was the formal foundation stone laying ceremony on the construction site. Mr. Riyad A. H. Almubaraki, Charge d' affaires of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Beijing; Dr. Abdulkareem A. Al-Zaid, Deputy Supervisor General of King Abdulaziz Public Library; Li Yansong, Vice President of PKU; Zhu Qiang, Chief Librarian of the PKU Library; Professor Fu Zhiming, Deputy Dean of the School of Foreign Languages, and representatives from the construction companies attended the ceremony.
Prof. Li extended a warm welcome to the guests from Saudi Arabia, then the ceremony officially begun. Li said: “There is an old saying in China: ‘A timely heavy snow promises a good harvest.’ On this festal day we are so glad to have this festal event.” Then, he introduced the Chinese representatives to the delegates from Saudi Arabia and expressed a hearty welcome on behalf of PKU.
Mr. Mubaraki also showed his delight of taking part in the ceremony, “Today is a beautiful day. We are not only appreciating the snow that symbolizes auspice, but also celebrating this significant event.” He expressed his gratitude to all the people who had put in so much effort to the library project, and then he introduced the delegates from Saudi Arabia.
He stressed that the library project would be directly served to enhance the relations between Saudi Arabia and China as well as the friendship between people in China and the Arab world. The cultural connection between both sides would become the foundation of providing education with high quality and cross-cultural communication. He said: “What we are laying today is not only a memorial tablet, but also a symbol of the cultural connection between the two sides. Today we should highly appreciate the cultural work made by both countries.”
Dr. Zaid expressed his fondness of PKU from the bottom of the heart. He pointed out that the culture relation between China and Saudi Arabia could be traced back to thousands of years ago, which was also mentioned in Xi’s One Belt One Road initiative.
Then, the contractor from the Shanxi Construction Group Six made a brief introduction of the project’s progress and showed some major works such as large machinery installation, cushion construction work, and more. After the tour of the construction site, the two sides began to discuss the location of the cornerstone. Shortly afterwards, a consensus was reached.
At last, the two sides came together to the construction site and the representatives expressed thankfulness not only to each other but also to all the workers on the site. With everyone’s anticipation, the two sides opened the curtain of the cornerstone together, and the ceremony drew to a successful close.
Translated By: Wei Yuchen
