TEHRAN - A video showcasing Iran’s UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace has drawn engagement from Chinese audiences after being broadcast by China’s state-owned broadcaster China Global Television Network as part of a program marking International Museum Day.

The segment, which featured a fusion of traditional Khorasani music and imagery of the historic Golestan Palace in Tehran, was aired within CGTN’s cultural initiative titled “Bridging the World Through Museums.” The program highlighted museums and cultural sites across multiple continents, aiming to promote intercultural dialogue through shared heritage narratives.

According to Hussein Khalifi, the representative of Iran’s Touring & Automobile Club, the Iranian submission stood out among entries from several countries and received significantly higher viewership compared with other featured clips.
“The video combining traditional music and the architectural beauty of Golestan Palace attracted considerable attention from Chinese audiences and became one of the most viewed segments,” Khalifi told ISNA on Wednesday. 

He said the video was broadcast during CGTN’s International Museum Day coverage in China, where museums from around the world were featured in a collaborative cultural showcase. 

Khalifi added that the use of regional Iranian music helped shape the tone and emotional resonance of the video, noting that Chinese viewers have shown increasing interest in Iranian cultural and historical content in recent years.

The CGTN initiative, which was held on May 18 to coincide with International Museum Day, presented 15 museums, and their galleries and cultural spaces from eight countries as platforms for cross-cultural dialogue. The broadcaster described museums as institutions that preserve “the traces of human civilization” and function as spaces where memory, culture and shared stories shape how societies understand the world.

In its coverage, CGTN emphasized that museums across regions and historical periods serve as living spaces of interaction rather than static repositories of artefacts. It said that through collections, artistic expression and public engagement, museums continue to foster dialogue between cultures and generations.

The program featured a series of site-specific cultural performances and visual presentations. At China’s Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan, light installations were projected against the ruins of western-style mansions, illustrating a convergence of Chinese and European aesthetics. In Greece, performers appeared near the Acropolis, blending music with one of the world’s most recognizable heritage sites overlooking the Aegean Sea.
In Tunisia, at the Bardo Museum, poetic verses were recited in a setting designed to highlight the coexistence of multiple historical narratives within a single cultural space.

Within the program, Golestan Palace was framed as a representation of Iran’s layered artistic and architectural heritage. The palace complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was presented as a cultural crossroads where Iranian decorative arts and European architectural influences intersect.

CGTN described the palace as a space where traditional Iranian music resonates through mirrored halls and tiled courtyards, creating what it called a dialogue between centuries of artistic tradition. It also noted that the site functions as a museum complex connecting artefacts from different historical periods and regions, reflecting the movement and exchange of artistic ideas across geography and time.

The broadcaster further stated that museums such as Golestan Palace reveal “layers of human identity over time,” linking distant generations through cultural expression passed into the future.

Khalifi said the production of the Iranian segment involved coordination between Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ministry, the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, and the Owj Arts and Media Organization, which contributed to the development of the video content.
Golestan Palace is one of Tehran’s oldest historic complexes and is registered on the UNESCO World Heritage list under recognition for its architectural and cultural significance. The site dates back to the Qajar era and includes a series of royal buildings, halls and courtyards reflecting both Persian artistic traditions and later European influences.

AM