The French language is often described as romantic, yet the culture surrounding it reaches far beyond that image.

The 30th edition of Francophonie Month was launched on March 4 at the Institut Francais (French institute) in Beijing. This year's program revolves around three themes — Create, Invent, Innovate, highlighting the role of the French language across diverse fields, from the arts to science.

Chinese musical theater performer Zheng Yunlong has been named the event's promotional ambassador. In 2024, he appeared alongside French artists on a program broadcast by CGTN, performing selections from the musical Notre-Dame de Paris.

In a video message for the event, Zheng described French as "a familiar stranger, and also a key that opens the heart". Its distinctive rhythm, he said, adds depth to singing and vitality to theatrical characters.

French musical theater actor Laurent Ban, who has spent more than two decades performing on stages in both China and France, attended Francophonie Month as a special guest. For him, cultural exchange is not an abstract idea, but a lived and shared experience.

When he sings in French and later learns that audience members have begun studying the language because of those performances, he says it brings him particular joy.