Stroll on a stone-paved road，pass a tiny vegetable garden, and a chic courtyard to the stone house where activities of “Loutaihui” take place[Photo/ptnet.cn]

On June 12, laughter broke out from a time-honored stone house in Shanglou Village in Southeastern China’s Pingtan Island where youths from across the Taiwan Straits gathered and appreciated the beauty of local culture and artistic works. They were there to eyewitness the change of an old stone house into “Loutaihui”, a venue for youth from both sides of the Taiwan Straits to meet.

Hsin-Hao Chen, a young man from Taiwan was fascinated by the antique house on his first trip. He crossed the Straits with a big dream. Together with his two peers from Taiwan, Mr. Chen made up his mind to give the ancient house a facelift. They kept the original style of the stone house and developed some new functions.

They dubbed the stone house “Loutaihui”, because they hope residents from Shanglou village and other parts of China could have a closer meet with the Taiwan compatriots , and the house might function as a bridge for cross-Straits cultural exchanges, and cooperation, among others. Zeng Ningyi, a village chief from Taiwan, also expressed his strong wish to transform the old stone house into a community club and serve as a show room to exhibit artistic works created by the cross-Straits young people.

In 2016, Shanglou village of Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone (PCPZ) was designated as a pilot community jointly developed by cross-Straits compatriots. Led by Zeng Ningyi,the community has begun the new journey toward the goal of co-development and co-benefit.

“I hope more youths from Taiwan could become more involved in the Village and have more heart-to-heart exchanges with the local residents. In that case, we can know more about each other,” said Zeng, “It is the first time these young men come to the mainland. I hope exchanges and exhibitions like this will last forever”.

The walls inside the stone house maintain its quaint origin. Under soft lighting, the painted artworks and illustrations on the walls would be reminiscent of Taiwan.[Photo/ptnet.cn]

Villagers can hold theme activities in the community hall.[Photo/ptnet.cn]

The stone house, renovated by Taiwan youth, Hsin-Hao Chen, possesses partitions ranging from an art gallery, cultural creativity boutiques and home-stay hotels to a cultural relic museum.[Photo/ptnet.cn]

Works of Taiwan artists exhibit in the art gallery.[Photo/ptnet.cn]

A colored painting, featuring “sunrise, sea of clouds with a mini-train in Ali Mountain of Taiwan”, being created by a young Taiwan artist on a wall[Photo/ptnet.cn]

Video:When Shanglou village meets Taiwan