Music, drama, dance and song take center stage as China's cultural season starts in the UK

Renowned concert pianist Lang Lang, dragon dancers and the People's Liberation Army Military Band are all part of a series of Chinese cultural activities to take place in Britain, said Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the UK, on Aug 4.

"As part of the China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange, the China cultural season begins. A rich variety of cultural events are arriving in the UK and lighting up the stages here," Liu said in a speech which marked the beginning of China Culture Season in the UK.

The Changxing Lotus Dragon Dance Folklore Group from Zhejiang province performs a dragon dance at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on Aug 4. Photos by Xinhua

Chinese pianist Lang Lang is invited to perform at Edinburgh International Festival this year.

In August, the PLA Military Band will perform at the ancient Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The band is acknowledged as China's leading musical collective, a ceremonial military band which boasts a repertoire of more than 2,000 musical works.

Chinese pianist Lang Lang is slated to give one of his flamboyant performances in the Usher Hall at the Edinburgh International Festival. He will play with the Philharmonia Orchestra and also has a recital which puts all sides of his powerful music personality on display. Bach's zesty Italian Concerto is full of sparkling wit and perky melody, while the 12 miniatures of Tchaikovsky's The Seasons are melodic masterpieces that capture the months of the year in music. Chopin's Four Scherzos dazzle with keyboard fireworks and seduce with their singing melodies.

In addition, making a first visit to Edinburgh, Zhejiang's Changxing Lotus Dragon Dance Folklore Group will tell a story - through dance and music - of a great dragon emerging from a pond covered in beautiful lotus flowers. The legend has been presented in China for many years to help promote the prospect of good crops and wider prosperity.

The National Theatre of Scotland and Tianjin Children's Art Theatre will jointly perform a drama named Dragon, a story for adults, teenagers and children with vivid imaginations, told without words and featuring fast moving physical theatre, puppetry and original music.

Later, China National Peking Opera Company and Yabin Dance Studio will perform in London.

"China and the UK are both influential countries who have contributed enormously to human civilization. Both countries have created a splendid history and culture. Both are proud of their cultural tradition, yet both are keen on innovation and creation," Liu said.

"The China Season highlights the cultural exchange between China and the UK. Culture knows no borders. Exchange sees no finish line. The geographical distance is no barrier to cultural exchange between China and the UK," said Liu.

To promote exchange and cooperation between the two countries, the China Cultural Season also includes a creative industry and cultural trade forum, and a China-UK video clip festival.

Other highlights will be the Shenzhen-Edinburgh International Creative Industry Incubation center which will be launched in Edinburgh, the China-UK design forum at the Victoria and Albert Museum and a Shanghai fashion show named Style Now Shanghai that will debut at London Fashion Week in September.

Events will also include Amazing China: 2015 Mobile Phone Photo Contest, a global competition jointly held by China Daily and Britain's Royal Photographic Society from August to November, which encourages tourists around the world to discover the beauty of China by sending in their photos for prizes.

"2015 is a big year for China-UK relations," Liu said, adding that it is called a golden year and that Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the UK in October at the invitation of the Queen.

"This visit is expected to mark a new milestone and a 'Golden Time' in China-UK relationship. Right now, both China and the UK are working hard to get ready for this important visit," Liu said.

This is the first China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange, said Xiang Xiaowei, cultural counselor of the Chinese embassy in the UK. During Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the UK in June 2014, the two countries agreed to set 2015 as a year of cultural exchange, with the first half being a UK Season in China and the second half being a China Season in the UK.

In March, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, visited China and officially launched the UK Cultural Season by painting the eye of a Shaun the Sheep model.

Rachel Ireland, regional head of Asia from the British Council, said the series of cultural activities that followed were a successful display of the best of British creative industry. They were hugely popular with the Chinese public.

In Britain, a number of Chinese cultural performances and events will happen from August to December, Xiang said.

"The China Cultural Season aims to bring Chinese and British artists, art and cultural organizations, creative businesses and organization together, and build a bridge for more substantial and sustainable cooperation between the two countries," Xiang said.

"The colourful events of the China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange will help build a broad platform for cooperation between the cultural and creative industries of our two countries. These events will open up windows for the Chinese and British people to share the best of their literature and art, and to enjoy the fruits of mutual learning," said Ambassador Liu.

Catherine Mallyon, executive director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, said the company is planning to translate Chinese classics into English as part of the cultural exchange.

"Working with Chinese colleagues, we expect to find the artistic creations of China during the time when Shakespeare lived (in Britain)," Mallyon said. Currently the company is doing research together with a number of experts on which literature pieces will be selected for translation and the results will be announced in the coming months.

Keith Nichol, head of cultural diplomacy at the British Department of Culture, Media & Sport, called 2015 "a springboard to encourage more tourist flow on both directions".

"It is really important that culture-to-culture exchanges embrace the whole of the UK so that people get the chance of visiting them," Nichol said.

David Allfrey, chief executive and producer of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, said that encouraging tourist flow is especially important to cultural exchange because it allows people to know more about the daily lives of others, on which art emerges and flourishes.

Allfrey is looking forward to the China Cultural Season. "I think we have so much to learn from each other."

The Tattoo first took place in 1950, with representatives from armed forces around the world parading on the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle, overlooking Scotland's capital.

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( China Daily European Weekly 08/07/2015 page19)