Award-nominated animation Tea Pets hits theaters
A 3D animation centered on tea pets, cute clay figurines in a local tea shop in a southern Chinese city, hits theaters in China on Friday. The movie was nominated for best animation in the Golden Goblet Awards in Shanghai, along side four other animations.
The lead character, a clay figurine named Ah Tang, is different from all the other cute little clay figures that change color when covered in tea. This makes Ah Tang upset. This also motivates him to go on action-packed adventures to be able to change color like the other figures that are believed to be good luck charms for tea drinkers.
Roaming in classical music
The National Center the Performing Arts' annual summer feast for music, Roam about the Classics, will have its last performance this weekend.
Grammy Award-winning conductor and composer José Serebrier will join hands with Ireland's RTE National Symphony Orchestra to play melodies including excerpts from Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi's The Sicilian Vespers and Russian composer Glazunov's The Seasons.
If you go:7:30 pm, July 23. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district. 010-6655-0000.
Ticket: 80-580 yuan ($10-85)
The Merchant of Venice
Beijing Comedy Theater is marking its second anniversary by performing William Shakespeare's comedy The Merchant of Venice. Apart from drama performers, a band and a bel canto vocalist will also grace the stage.
If you go:7:30 pm, through July 30. Beijing Comedy Theater, 11 Chaoyangmen North Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 400-610-3721.
Ticket: 100-500 yuan
Contemporary porcelain on show
Ceramic craftsmanship has been an important part of Chinese culture since ancient times.
A new exhibition featuring contemporary porcelain pieces has opened at the National Museum. On show are the museum's collections of important porcelain inheritors and porcelains used at the APEC and G20 meetings, which are all representations of the beauty and charm of modern ceramic creation in China.
If you go: 9 am – 5 pm, through July 30 (closed on Mondays), National Museum of China, 16 East Chang'an Avenue, Dongcheng district. 010-6511-6188.
Ticket: Free
Michelangelo's universe
The new exhibition The Divine Michelangelo Art Exhibition opened in Beijing last week.
Comprising 105 items, the show demonstrates Michelangelo's artistic achievements in drawing, sculpture, architecture, poetry and fresco. It features several of his renowned statues including one of only three life-size replicas of David in the world.
If you go:10 am - 9 pm, through Oct 10. Bird's Nest Culture Center, 1 National Stadium South Road, Chaoyang district. 010-64553358.
Ticket: 40 -160 yuan
The Nine-colored Deer
Dance drama The Nine-colored Deer is produced and performed by young Chinese dancer Zhang Yashu and created by a team of excellent young Chinese dancers. With their elegant body language, they lead the audience into the world of Dunhuang on the Silk Road, telling the legend of the nine-colored deer.
This work derives from No 257 Dunhuang Grotto frescoes The Figure of Nine-colored Deer, which is regarded as one of extant and the most complete Dunhuang frescoes. In the 1980s,The Figure of Nine-colored Deer was shot in the cartoon The Nine-colored Deer and became a household classic story.
If you go:7:30 pm, July 22. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district. 010-6655-0000.
Ticket: 120-240 yuan
Art festival for children
The annual Opening Gate of Art Festival for children has kicked off with a concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall. The two-month festival, which runs till August 31, will have music, dance, Peking Opera, fine art shows and lectures.
