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Solo show of hard-edged oils

Beijing-based artist Zhao Keying's solo show of oil paintings opens at the National Art Museum of China today. The focus of his works is the idyllic south China landscape.

Zhao has consistently explored different ways of expressing his grasp of life and nature. His distinctive fusion of Chinese aesthetics and Western abstract style has earned him critical praise as well as the widespread appreciation of art lovers.

The substantive, concrete quality of Western abstract style apparent in Zhao's works act as a perfect foil for the ethereal Chinese aesthetic tradition. He wants his paintings to appear as a dialogue between contemporary culture and age-old Chinese artistic traditions. Zhao's solo show ends on June 22.

Deserting it all for Sichuan victims

Business students who won a Gobi hiking race are donating their prize money to children of the Sichuan earthquake.

The race's organizing committee has set up a foundation for orphans of the disaster, to which former participants of the race have donated about 260,000 yuan ($37,680).

About 123 contestants took part in the Gobi race this year. Ninety-two of the racers managed to complete the 110-km-plus trek on part of the Gobi desert.

Named after ancient Chinese monk Xuanzang - known for his 17-year overland trip to India and back - the race is an annual gala for business talents.

After the quake struck Sichuan nine days before the race started, organizers decided to use the race to help raise relief funds for the western Chinese province.

Stadium given a look at nature

The State Forestry Bureau and the Nature Conservancy in China (TNC) presented 200 exquisite photos to the newly completed National Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Friday.

The photos were selected from a pool of more than 10,000 entries from the Natural China Photography Competition, organized by the State Forestry Bureau and TNC, an international conservation organization based in the United States.

The photos (pictured above), which focus on the country's nature reserves, display China's rich biodiversity.

Incredible Hulk casts its green light on box office

The Incredible Hulk outmuscled Kung Fu Panda to achieve top North American box office ratings on its opening weekend, according to industry estimates Sunday.

Actor-writer Edward Norton's version of the not-so-jolly green giant, a follow-up to the 2003 movie Hulk, has reeled in $54.5 million since its debut on Friday, box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

The adventures of Po, a kindly panda forced to become a martial-arts master in order to save his jungle from leopard hoodlums, took in $34.3 million, putting it in second place.

In third place was The Happening, the latest offering from acclaimed mystery-horror director M. Night Shyamalan, which grossed $30.5 million on its weekend debut.

The Adam Sandler comedy You Don't Mess with the Zohan, in which a former Israeli spy finds a new life as a New York hairstylist, earned $16.4 million and a number four spot.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 06/17/2008 page18)