The Tandem festival, featuring Chinese and French contemporary literature, and the award ceremony of the Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Awards, both initiated by the French embassy in China, will mark the yearlong celebration with an insightful ending, according to Nicolas Pillerel, minister counselor for culture, education and scientific affairs of the embassy.

Conductor Li Xincao, the China National Traditional Orchestra and the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre will give a concert at the Royal Opera Versailles in Paris, together with its resident orchestra, on Jan 31, as an overture for events spanning the whole year in France, according to Zheng Hao, a first-level inspector at the Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation of China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Renowned composer and conductor Tan Dun and the China National Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with influential local soloists, will be touring French cities with classical musical pieces from both countries.

A Tang Dynasty (618-907) artifact exhibition will be held at the Guimet Museum, also known as the National Museum of Asian Arts, in Paris, featuring more than 200 exhibits, including pottery figurines, tangsancai (tricolored glazed pottery), textiles, calligraphy and paintings, among others.

China's regional cultural traditions, such as the lanterns of Zigong, Sichuan province; porcelain from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province; as well as kites from Weifang, Shandong province, will also be highlighted in various events in cities like Paris, Bellac, Amneville and Montauban.

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