THE China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange has been going on throughout 2015, during which both countries have exchanged cultural seasons to showcase the diversity and creativity of each.

The British cultural season opened during the visit of the Duke of Cambridge to China in March. With more than 30 creative and cross-boundary modern arts programmes, the season offers the Chinese audience rich and diversified experiences of contemporary cultural and creative development of the UK.

The Chinese cultural season, themed ‘Creative China’, was launched in the UK in August, presenting Chinese culture and creativity to the British public. Outstanding artists and art troupes visited the UK to participate in world-renowned programmes at Shakespeare’s Globe, Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and more shows and activities will be rolled out until December. Let’s take a glimpse at some of the highlights of the China-UK Year that have taken place so far.

Prince William’s trip to China

Prince William started his tour by adding the finishing touches to a TV cartoon character Shaun the Sheep in Beijing, which marked the curtain-up of the UK culture season.

During his three-day visit, the prince visited the Shijia Hutong Museum in Beijing, a museum in the courtyard house restored by the Prince of Wales’s China Foundation and The Prince’s Foundation for Building Communities, followed by a quick trip to the Forbidden City.

Prince William attended a campaign held in the Long Museum to showcase British creativity and innovation in entertainment, design, healthcare and fashion. The final stop was Xishuangbanna in Southwest China’s Yunnan province where he visited an elephant rehabilitation centre and a nature reserve.

China-UK Literary Theatre Exchange project

As part of the China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange, the China-UK Literary Theatre Exchange project kicked off on March 27. Organised by Xinchan Theatre in Beijing and the British Council, seven works, including Ulysses, A Journey Round James Joyce and Turn of the Screw had been staged or will be staged by Sino-British artists.

Free approach to the Edinburgh Forest Fringe

Launched at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2007, Forest Fringe builds bridges between audiences and performers to enable exciting, improbable and spectacular things to happen.

From June 27 to July 9, a collective-based approach to arts included activities such as world dance, independent art exhibitions, grass-roots creative projects and more opened to the public in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing for free. Independent artists brought their works of performance art, including Tim Etchell’s Remote Collaboration, Andy Field’s Incidental Plays and Neil Callaghan and Simone Kenyon’s One.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe dates back to 1947 when it was an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival. It has since grown into one of the world’s largest arts festival, lasting more than 20 days every August.

A Chinese Richard III staged in Britain

In the summer of 2012, Wang Xiaoying, vice president of the National Theatre of China and a well-known director, performed Richard III, one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, in the Chinese language at the Globe to Globe Universal Shakespeare Theatre Festival.

In July, Richard III in Mandarin returned to the stage of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on London’s South Bank. 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.

Chinese performances light up Edinburgh International Festival

During the 2015 Edinburgh International Festival, China became the biggest focus. Chinese pianist Lang Lang gave a flamboyant performance; Zhejiang’s Changxing Lotus Dragon Dance Folklore Group also made its first visit by telling a story through dance and music; Tao Dance Theatre performed for two days to reveal the unique charm of China’s contemporary dance.

Moreover, the National Theatre of Scotland and Tianjin Children’s Art Theatre jointly performed a drama Dragon.

Chinese fashion campaign launched in London Fashion Week

Design Shanghai brought the best of Chinese fashion design to the UK with a September exhibition at London’s Olympia arena. Shanghai also ran another fashion campaign Style Now — Shanghai in London. It included an interactive forum called Shanghai-London, an Urban Tale of Fashion and Creativity.

The forum was designed to encourage and facilitate continuing exchanges and potential collaboration in the fashion industry between China and the UK, such as the common development of urban fashion and creativity in China.

Shanghai Fashion Week signed an agreement with the British Fashion Council, promoting further exchanges and collaboration between the fashion weeks of London and Shanghai.

—By arrangement with China Daily

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2015

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