A woman visits the photo exhibition "Greek Photographers focusing on Beijing" in Piraeus port, Greece, on April 24, 2018. Piraeus port has warmly welcomed Chinese in recent years, becoming a strong symbol of Sino-Greek friendship and cooperation. As such, the port is hosting a photo exhibition "Greek Photographers focusing on Beijing" from April 24 to May 4 to bring Greeks closer to China's capital. (Xinhua/Lefteris Partsalis)

ATHENS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Piraeus port has warmly welcomed Chinese in recent years, becoming a strong symbol of Sino-Greek friendship and cooperation. As such, the port is hosting a photo exhibition "Greek Photographers focusing on Beijing" from April 24 to May 4 to bring Greeks closer to China's capital.

Hosted at Piraeus Municipal Art Gallery, the photo exhibition was organized for the year of cultural exchanges and cooperation of creative industries between Greece and China.

It features some 100 photographs of Beijing by Greek photographers George Doupas and Ioannis Marinoglou.

Invited by the information office of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, the two Greek photographers spent a week in Beijing last November taking pictures of the autumnal landscapes, architecture, and the intangible cultural heritage -- the daily life of Beijingers and the unique intersection of tradition and modernity.

Doupas and Marinoglou joined over 100 photographers from dozens of countries which have participated in the program that aimed to showcase Beijing to the world since it was launched in 1999.

Addressing the opening ceremony at Piraeus on Tuesday evening, Xu Hejian, director of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality information office, explained that the foreign photographers offer a fresh look at the city and help people across the globe better understand Beijing and its residents.

"Ancient and modern Beijing is well displayed by these photos. In particular, these photos were taken by a Greek photographer, so they are from the perspective of foreign photographers, and they feature the beauty of Beijing from their perspective," Xu told Xinhua.

Although Greece and China are far away from each other, their mutual respect for each other's ancient civilizations is a guarantee for the further enhancement of bilateral ties, deputy mayor of Piraeus Irene Daifas noted.

"Even though I did not have the opportunity so far to visit Beijing, to be honest -- and I should have done it already -- I now have such a good image of all that is happening there, that I believe when I will visit, it will be very familiar," Daifas told Xinhua.

Wang Chao, an official with the Chinese Embassy in Athens, stressed the significance of such projects.

"I think it is a good way to make the friendship between the peoples...I hope this cooperation and exchange can continue," he told Xinhua.

The two Greek photographers who participated in the project talked about their admiration of Beijing and China.

"Everything is mind blowing in China...You always see something new in China, always have new experiences," Doupas told Xinhua.

The first time he visited Beijing in 2005 he fell in love with a city with enormous energy, Doupas said.

Since 2009, he has lived and worked in Beijing with his Chinese wife. He has travelled across China and his dream is to also show Greeks the remote China in a future photo exhibition, he said.

Marinoglou also lived and worked in Beijing from 2005 until 2010. During his stay in China he took more than 100,000 photographs, he said.

"I did my best to give the most with what I had at my disposal," he said.

Armed with his photographic equipment and passion, he captured the rich cultural heritage, economic growth and the hospitality of Beijing, saying he was confident visitors of Piraeus gallery will get more acquainted with China through his work.

The photographs of the two Greek artists were first displayed in Beijing from March 29 to April 5.