Hirota Ryuichiro, an honorary citizen of Wuxi, attends the opening ceremony of the 2017 Wuxi International Cherry Blossom Week. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Hirota Ryuichiro, a Japanese man conferred with the title of honorary citizen of Wuxi, visited the city for the eighth time this year to attend the Wuxi's annual International Cherry Blossom Week.

Traveling between China and Japan for eight consecutive years, Hirota is mainly engaged in the exchange of climate research and agricultural cultivation.

Standing beneath beautiful cherry trees, prized in both Chinese and Japanese cultures, during the opening ceremony of this year's event, Hirota hopes exchanges between the two countries can be conducted at more levels. He listed an example of folk exchanges that left him deeply impressed.

“In the city of Kyoto, Japan there is the Kiyomizu Temple near where many Chinese young people live. They like to wear traditional clothes from the ancient State of Wu during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period of China.”

Such a display of the retro costumes has helped more Japanese people learn about Chinese culture, Hirota said.

Hirota also expressed his hope that the cherry blossom, the national flower of Japan, can continue to act as a link binding the friendship of the two countries.