Senegal's space cooperation with China crucial for talent development, future exploration: official

Senegal's collaboration with China in space exploration is significant for developing talent and inspiring future generations to pursue space science, according to Maram Kaire, director of the Senegalese Agency for Space Studies, in a recent interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in east China's Anhui Province.

On Thursday, representing his agency, Kaire signed an agreement on International Lunar Research Station cooperation with the China National Space Administration at the 2nd International Deep Space Exploration Conference held in Tunxi District, Huangshan City, Anhui, which ran from Thursday to Friday.

He emphasized that partnering with China, a country with an ambitious lunar exploration program, will greatly benefit Senegal's next generation in pursuing space science.

"It is a very important step in what we are planning to do in our country. I was talking about the importance of finding the best partners and also to be included in the best projects in space exploration and this lunar exploration project from China is very ambitious and really interesting. We need for support to train people in Senegal in space science, we need to build infrastructures, we need to empower our kids. Being part of a very big project, international cooperation project is the best way to interest the next generation in working in space science. It will be a very big achievement for developing countries like Senegal. So, this is what we are expecting in this collaboration. It is very important for our roadmap to be part of this ambitious program," said Kaire.

He also praised China's accomplishments in lunar and deep space exploration, particularly the retrieval of lunar samples, which has boosted global confidence in space exploration.

"China program, space program is a very impressive program, you have been making very big achievements, not only by landing a spacecraft on the moon with the Chang'e program, and bringing back some samples from the moon. It is just amazing. You are showing that it is possible, you know with science and technology to change the future of all mankind. And we are confident for the next years to have a very nice collaborative program on lunar exploration at the beginning, but I am sure that it will be further than the moon," said Kaire.

The official expressed hope to collaborate with China in key areas, including infrastructure development, talent training, and satellites development for agriculture purposes.

"Starting by developing facilities with China, training people, having a joint program to develop maybe satellites and so on for sectors like agriculture and so on. It will be a big step-in what we are planning to do with with China, and I think that we are going to be focused on those priorities at this moment. At the end, we will see maybe new possibilities to work together," said Kaire.

Senegal's space cooperation with China crucial for talent development, future exploration: official

Chinese cities, towns and villages are putting on dazzling light and lantern shows, staging distinctive folk customs performances, and holding festive mooncake banquets in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on Tuesday.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important festivals in Chinese culture. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese lunar calendar and dates back more than a millennium. As a festival in honor of the moon and harvest, families reunite on the occasion to admire the bright full moon, light lanterns, and share the holiday pastry of mooncakes.

In the ancient city of Kaifeng of central China's Henan Province and Jinzhou City of northeast China's Liaoning Province, popular tourist attractions and landmarks are bathed in lights, promising a mesmerizing nighttime experience for local residents and tourists alike.

Beijing's famous Beihai Park, a public park and former imperial garden, is staging performances themed around bianzhong, or Chinese chime bells which has a history of over 2,000 years.

In tourist towns and villages of Yunnan Province in the southwest, Zhejiang Province in th east and Guangdong Province in the south, lively folk and dragon dances are gathering numerous locals and tourists to join in the festivities.

Audiences are enjoying a poetry recitation show in Hefei City, east China's Anhui Province, and a symphony in Zunyi City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, respectively.

This year, Suining City in southwest China's Sichuan Province and Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the northwest, have both prepared giant freshly made mooncakes enough to treat hundreds of people at a same time. And in a village of the southwestern Chongqing Municipality, people have prepared their own mooncakes on a flour ground from their newly harvested red sorghum.

"We are filled with the joy of harvest during the merry traditional festival. The festive mood is really nice," said Liu Ya, a local of Jiangjun Village in Chongqing's Bishan District.

Elsewhere, villages in Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, are also celebrating their harvest of red pepper by drying them on the roofs. And another village in the eastern province of Shandong has recently held a large banquet for local households to share.

Outside the mainland, colorful lanterns are also dotting the various landmarks, streets and alleyways of Hong Kong and Macao, adding to the festive joy.

Celebrations held across China to mark traditional Mid-Autumn Festival