China in the Bulgarian State Archive: The Visit to the PRC of Stoyan Raynov and the Evergreen People’s Commune for Chinese-Bulgarian Friendship Then and Now

Abstract The paper presents little-known information about a visit to China in 1959 of Stoyan Raynov—one of the founders of the modern Bulgarian ceramic art. Data from the personal archive of the artist is regarded as part of the bigger picture of the cultural and ideological exchange between Bulgaria and China in the 1950s. Focusing on two sites, visited by Stoyan Raynov during his time in Beijing—the new Beijing Railway Station and the Evergreen People’s Commune for Chinese-Bulgarian friendship, the paper presents the development of the commune into the 21st century, including the visit of Pat Nixon and most recently the birth of the town of Sijiqing—the modern successor of the preceding commune.