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Seven historic artistic masterpieces would be unpacked on April 28 and put on public display on May 1 in the French Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, according to Frank Serrano, director of the Pavilion.

Borrowed from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, the seven masterpieces - six paintings and a sculpture - were delivered to Shanghai in seven different planes.

They are Jean-Francois Millet's The Angelus, Edouard Manet's The Balcony, Paul Cezanne's Woman with Coffee Pot, Vincent Van Gogh's The Dance Hall in Arles, Paul Gauguin's The Bananas, Pierre Bonnard's The Toilet and August Rodin's sculpture The Age of Bronze.

It is the first time these works will be shown together outside France.

Calling all wuxia novelists

The Sixth Wen Say-Ling Wuxia Literary Awards are now open for submissions.

Named after Taiwan philanthropist and wuxia (kungfu) novelist Wen Say-Ling, the awards were instituted in 2005 in Taipei. This is the first time the awards have been thrown open on the mainland.

Entries can posted online at www.sina.com.cn before the deadline of Aug 30 . The awards are being coordinated by the China Wuxia Literature Research Society, Taiwan Tomorrow Studio, and People's Literature Publishing House.

"The mainland has the largest readership of wuxia literature as well the largest number of wuxia writers," says Liu Guohui, vice-president of People's Literature Publishing House. "We hope the cooperation between two publishing companies will help enhance cross-Straits cultural exchange."

The awards will be announced on Dec 7, in Beijing.

Remembering folk heroes

The Third Qingming Cold Food Cultural Festival is being held at Mt Mianshan, Jiexiu county, Shanxi province.

An academic workshop on Qingming (tomb-sweeping) culture was hosted on April 4 and 5 during the festival, attracting over 30 folk culture scholars from Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and China.

Running until Thursday, the festival features a series of folk cultural activities such as the worship of Jie Zitui, a historical figure who preferred to die alongside his mother rather than serve the new emperor. The latter had set a mountain ablaze, trying to make Jie come round and accept an official post.

Mayors' meet on urban planning

Over 40 mayors from across China attended a forum on low-carbon urban planning and color schemes for cities in Beijing last week.

Organized by the All China Mayors Training Center and China News Service, the forum attracted over 50 architects, real estate developers, officials and experts on urban planning and color schemes from all over the world.

Art bonanza from Europe

A group show of oil paintings by European artists will run till Friday at the Convention Center for National People's Political Consultative Conference.

On view will be over 200 paintings by 100 artists from EU countries.

The second of its kind in China since 2009, the exhibition is organized by several Chinese and French art institutions, such as the Association Art en Voyage, the Beijing River Painting Society and the Tianjin Museum.

After its Beijing debut, the exhibition will be on show from April 23 to May 9 at Tianjin Museum.

News, entertainment on the go

A joint venture called People Video by www.people.com.cn and the Zhonglian Jinghua Company has started to operate mobile TV business.

According to Ma Licheng, deputy editor-in-chief of People's Daily, which owns www.people.com.cn, People Video is an important part of the People's Daily group's new media development strategy. The People Video will provide its users 24-hour video programs based on the news resources of the group's 70-plus branches in China and abroad.

On the other hand, Zhonglian Jinghua, under the China Vision Media Group, will mainly provide entertainment programs.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 04/13/2010 page20)