On Tuesday, the China Season of the 2015 China-U.K. Year of Cultural Exchange was launched in London, announcing a series of events to come in the next few months. The events have the goal of exposing U.K. residents to the culture and traditions of China.
The launch followed the success of the first half of the U.K. Culture Season in China, which had the goal of exposing Chinese residents to the culture of the U.K.
The first event of the China Season happened at the end of July, when the Chinese version of Richard III was staged at Shakespeare's Globe Theater. The events that were announced during the launch include performances from pianists Lang Lang and Wang Yujia, the Tao Dance Theater, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Band and Zhejiang Changxing Lotus Dragon Art Group.
Minister Councilor for Culture of the Chinese Embassy Xiang Xiaowei also said during a press briefing at the Chinese Embassy in London on Tuesday that Yabin Dance Studio and China National Peking Opera will also bring their shows to the U.K. in September and November.
It was also announced that the Shenzhen-Edinburgh International Creative Industry Incubation Center will be launched in August to promote cultural innovation and exchange between China and the U.K. Events like London Fashion Week and the London Design Festival in September will also feature Chinese elements.
A Creative-Industry and Cultural Trade Forum of China and the U.K. will also be held by the Chinese Cultural Trade Institute and several universities from both countries between September and October.
During the second half of the year, there will also be other events in line with the celebrations, such as museum professional trainings, Chinese film launches and mobile phone photo contests.
Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the U.K., said that China-U.K. people-to-people exchanges have become more active thanks to the concerted efforts of both sides.
Keith Nichol, head of Cultural Diplomacy for the British Department for Culture, Media and Sport, said that "culture exchanges are encouraged and endorsed by government-to-government dialogues, but it's the people-to-people exchanges, and the artist-to-artist exchanges, which are at the heart of bilateral relationships between our two countries, and that's why the Year of Cultural Exchanges is so important."