It has been a difficult holiday season for many residents of Lebanon. Conflict, loss, and uncertainty have transformed what is usually a joyous time into a period of stress and sorrow. In the city of Tyre, the festive atmosphere and bustling tourists are noticeably absent amid a fragile ceasefire.
There are almost no Christmas decorations this year in Tyre; instead, the city is filled with an atmosphere of mourning and pictures of young men who lost their lives during the 14-month Israeli-Hezbollah conflict.
"The south is sad, and we are sad -- for our south and the houses that were damaged. My daughter, for example, had her house damaged in the Al-Hosh area. Here in the south, we all live as one family," said Milad al-Khouri, a resident of Tyre.
Some small hotels may appear festive, but despite the decorations, there are no parties as in previous years. No tourists have come to celebrate the holidays in the ancient city of Tyre, situated on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
"After this terrible war and the destruction in Tyre, everyone was affected -- us and our neighbors. We hoped it would be a good year, but unfortunately, it was a sad one. Before the war, there was always an atmosphere of joy, with foreign tourists and expatriates visiting, but now no one can come. They have nowhere to stay," said Walid Salha, a hotel owner.
Even shops are seeing a significant decline in business.
"There is no atmosphere like every year, even the sales are very slow. We try to decorate and work, but there is little, no work, maybe because of the war that happened; there are so many martyrs and mourning," said Fadia Jouni, a merchant.
Although the war has ended, the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon remains engulfed in sorrow, weighed down by the loss of lives and the destruction left by Israeli bombardment. At the same time, residents grapple with the constant fear that the fragile ceasefire may collapse, leading to war breaking out again.
Aftermath of conflict casts shadow over Christmas cheer in southern Lebanon
The second meeting of High-Level Consultation Mechanism on People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges between China and Japan, was held in Beijing on Wednesday, with 10 important agreements reached there.
Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese foreign minister, and Takeshi Iwaya, Japanese minister for foreign affairs, jointly attended the meeting.
The 10 agreement are as follows.
First, the two sides will promote youth exchange visits, and encourage and support study trips between the two countries.
Second, the two sides will deepen cooperation in the field of education, strengthen the exchange of overseas students, and support primary and secondary schools in the two countries to establish sister schools and institutions of higher education to carry out inter-school cooperation.
Third, the two sides will support tourism cooperation and introduce more facilitation measures to promote mutual visits between tourists from the two countries.
Fourth, the two sides will build more bridges for exchanges between sister cities and make good use of mechanisms and platforms such as the China-Japan Governor Forum, the China-Japan-ROK Cultural Exchange Year and the Culture Cities of East Asia to expand friendly exchanges at the local and non-governmental levels.
Fifth, the two sides will strengthen sports exchanges and cooperation, and support each other in hosting major sports events such as the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in 2026.
Sixth, the two sides will support continued cooperation in film, television, music, publishing, animation, games and other cultural and entertainment industries, exchange visits of high-level art groups, and support the translation and publication of classic works between the two countries.
Seventh, the two sides will strengthen exchanges and cooperation between media and think tanks, play a positive role in bilateral relations, and strive to improve public opinion and the environment for public opinion. The two sides will support exchanges and cooperation in new media and encourage exchanges between positive vibes of the two countries.
Eighth, the two sides will conduct exchanges between women's groups and share experience on promoting the common development of men and women. China invites Japan to attend the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Ninth, the two sides will build the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, into a platform for exchanges and friendship between the two peoples. China supports Japan in hosting the expo, while Japan welcomes China's participation and will provide assistance in the preparation and operation of the China Pavilion.
Tenth, the two sides will hold the third meeting of China-Japan high-level consultation mechanism on people-to-people and cultural exchanges in Japan in due course.
Noting that next year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Wang said that the purpose of remembering this history is to draw lessons from it and cherish the hard-won peace.
China hopes and believes that Japan can once again demonstrate its determination for peaceful development and work with China to promote the sound and stable development of China-Japan relations in the spirit of facing history squarely and looking to the future, said Wang.
Iwaya said Japan is willing to work with China to improve the quality of people-to-people exchange projects, deepen exchanges between sister cities and take more measures to facilitate personnel exchanges.
China, Japan reach 10 agreements on people-to-people, cultural exchanges
