On 14 June, Consul General Tang Rui attended the performance of Meeting the Grand Canal and the closing ceremony of the 2026 UK Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. Among those present were Director of the China National Tourist Office London, Mr Zhang Li; President of the Hangzhou Opera and Dance Theatre, Ms Cui Wei; representatives of Salford City Council; and guests from various sectors.

In his remarks, Consul General Tang Rui congratulated the organizers on the successful conclusion of the 2026 UK Chinese Dragon Boat Festival and thanked the artists of the Hangzhou Opera and Dance Theatre for their outstanding performance. He expressed the hope that all parties would continue working together to develop the Dragon Boat Festival into a broader festival of Chinese culture, enabling more people across Greater Manchester to better understand and appreciate Chinese culture and Chinese civilization, and thereby further promoting China–UK friendship and people-to-people exchanges.

Meeting the Grand Canal is a cultural heritage production created by the Hangzhou Opera and Dance Theatre. The performance unfolds in four acts — “Excavation, Prosperity, Oblivion, and Rediscovery” — tracing the thousand-year evolution of the Grand Canal.