BEIJING: The 2026 Pakistan-China Silk Road Mango Festival, held on August 14 in Shanghai to coincide with Pakistan’s Independence Day and the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, has turned the spotlight on the “golden fruit” as a bridge for cultural exchange and agricultural trade.
Hosted by the Consulate General of Pakistan in Shanghai at the Lan Yue Wedding Art Center, the festival brought together around 250 guests, including Pakistani businessmen and students, and Chinese business representatives from fruit and food distribution, supermarkets, cold-chain logistics and e-commerce sectors.
The event was part of a series of celebrations organized by Pakistani diplomatic missions with its embassy in Beijing and consulates in Guangzhou and Chengdu having hosted mango festivals earlier this year, CEN reported on Sunday.
The festival underscored the deepening economic ties under the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Pakistani mangoes now travel via the cold-chain “Silk Road Express”, crossing mountains and seas to reach households across Shanghai and the rest of China, becoming a vehicle for what participants recognized as “mango-driven diplomacy”.
On the occasion, traditional handicrafts including bronze ware, embroidered glass ornaments, textiles and ethnic caps were on display, alongside sporting goods from Pakistan’s competitive manufacturing sector, such as footballs, badminton rackets, gloves, cricket ball and tennis ball. Colourful gemstones, notably emeralds, also drew attendees’ glances.
The culinary highlight of the evening was a creative mango-inspired feast, featuring fresh-cut mangoes, mango juice, desserts, tarts, cakes, and savory innovations such as mango fish, mango fried rice and mango shrimp, all prepared from seasonal fruit air-freighted to Shanghai.
Interspersed with the tasting were cultural performances of singing, dance and guzheng music, adding a cross-cultural ambience. –Agencies
