LONDON -- British historian and TV presenter Michael Wood has said he is delighted to see that his newly released documentary about Du Fu, a prolific Chinese poet in Tang dynasty, has helped boost cultural understanding between different cultures especially during the novel coronavirus lockdown when mutual appreciation is particularly important.

Cultural connection vital 

The one-hour documentary Du Fu: China's Greatest Poet, was recently aired on the BBC. From the Yellow River to the Yangtze Gorges, Wood traveled in the footsteps of Du Fu, conjuring up the extraordinary life, times and words of one of China's most-loved poets who lived some 1,300 years ago.

In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, Wood said this film, in which Du Fu was first introduced to the Western world in documentary form, has drawn lots of attention in Britain.

"A lot of the audience were saying this was a good time to do it because it helps understanding and it's about human feelings and ideas," he said, "We also got a lot of people in Britain saying it had opened their eyes to an aspect of Chinese culture that they were unaware of. They don't know China has the oldest living continuous tradition of poetry in the world."

He added that some people have shown keen interest in China and Chinese poetry after watching the documentary.

"We've got quite a few letters from people saying they've been inspired to order translations of Du Fu's poems. You know, we're in the lockdown here and they want to get deeper and look further," he said.

This kind of cultural connection is vital, especially at a time when COVID-19 outbreak poses global challenge and is damaging cultural relations among different countries, noted Wood, who is also professor of Public History at the University of Manchester and president of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU).

China-bashing concern 

The professor also expressed his grave concern over the damage that unfounded China-bashing could do to cultural exchanges.

"It is a bit worried, especially when you hear the noises...and there is prejudice that Chinese people do not in any way deserve," he told Xinhua.

The professor warned the COVID-19-related damage to cultural links could exit in all sorts of ways. He took his hometown Manchester as an example, to stress the importance of keeping connections with China and fighting against the prejudices floating around at the moment.

"Manchester always has a big connection with China and the University of Manchester has the biggest Chinese student population, not only in the UK, but in whole Europe. So Chinese culture, Chinese everything, is a big thing in Manchester. But we are very worried now that the COVID-19 outbreak will affect those kind of cultural exchanges as well," he said.

He expressed hope that things could take a turn for the better and "we hope that Chinese students will still want to come on study in Manchester, in Britain. Because it is through these links that you make a better world for everybody."

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