Who's in
Viennese to welcome erhu
Master erhu player Deng Jiandong (pictured) is to hold a solo concert at the Golden Hall of Vienna on January 8.
Deng's concert will be titled The Moon Mirrored in Erquan Fountain, which is also the title of what is said to be the most world's most popular erhu composition. Its composer, A Bing, was a poor, blind folk artist who lived in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu Province, in the early 20th century
Deng, also from Wuxi, is an artist affiliated to the People's Liberation Army Air Force and is acclaimed for his ability to express subtle feelings with the 1,000-year-old, two-stringed instrument.
He will be supported by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra for the concert and Peng Jiapeng, conductor-in-chief of the China Broadcast Folk Orchestra, will be in charge of the baton.
Contest hones English skills
Wu Chenfang, 80, was an English teacher before retiring 20 years ago but recently had the chance to put rusty language skills to use by teaming up with two granddaughters for the Beijing Family English Competition contest earlier this month.
The annual contest was first held in 2005, when it was organized by the Beijing Women's Federation and the Women of China magazine, under the All-China Women's Federation.
To prepare for the contest, English was taught in around 1,200 communities and over the past three years an estimated 350,000 people in Beijing have learned English for the event.
More than 300,000 free English textbooks have been distributed to households in Beijing and another 700,000 will be given out before the Olympics.
Collector in the spotlight
Another cultural scholar is set to become a media star. Art collector Ma Weidu will talk about his experiences in the popular Lecture Room, News Channel (Channel 10), for China Central Television Station, starting January 1.
For the past two years historian Yi Zhongtian and Confucianism professor Yu Dan have became household names after lecturing on the program and their books became bestsellers.
Ma, 52, started collecting art in the early 1980s when he was an editor at the China Youth Publishing House. He has built three private Guanfu Classic Art Museums, one in Beijing, one in Hangzhou and the other in Xiamen.
Unlike most collectors who focus on only one kind of art, oil paintings for example, Ma has a wide range of interests and his collection includes ceramics, classic furniture, contemporary art and most recently photos.
He will give 44 lectures on TV, including 10 about furniture, 24 about ceramics and 10 about other kinds of art. He is also likely to provide a few anecdotes about art circles and stories related to the collector's pieces.
Women want Depp as Santa Claus
Female fans have chosen Johnny Depp (pictured) as the actor they would like to see as Santa Claus in a movie.
More than a quarter of women chose Depp as their favorite option as Santa Claus beating out Jude Law and Leonardo DiCaprio in a poll conducted by Odeon, the sun.co.uk reports.
In an another poll 62 percent chose Richard Attenborough's performance as Father Christmas in Miracle on 34th Street as their favorite Santa Claus in movies.
Tim Allen in The Santa Clause came in second and Tom Hanks in The Polar Express followed.
Oscar winning actress Dame Judi Dench surprisingly beat out younger actresses like Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Alba by snagging two thirds of the vote as their favorite option as Mrs. Claus.
Pitt won't abandon New Orleans
Actor Brad Pitt (pictured) refuses to be threatened by another natural disaster and leave New Orleans.
The actor moved there with partner Angelina Jolie and their kids as he wanted to work on a project to provide homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Now Pitt does not want the threat of a tornado to spoil his Christmas plans, conatactmusic.com reports.
"I grew up in a tornado zone and now I live in an earthquake zone in L.A. or a hurricane zone here (in New Orleans). Mother Nature makes the rules, but we're gonna live where we wanna live," he said.
China Daily/Agencies
(China Daily 12/27/2007 page18)
