Art celebrates Macao's return to motherland

In the famous poem Song of Seven Sons, which was written by Chinese poet and scholar Wen Yiduo (1899-1946) in 1925, Macao was described as one of the seven places along China's coast ceded to foreign powers, and the poem expresses how the Chinese people longed for their return to the motherland. More than 70 years later, Wen's poem became the lyrics for the song welcoming the return of Macao to the mainland in 1999. Now, it has become a piece of traditional Chinese painting by artist Zhang Wang with the same title.

In the black-and-white ink painting, Wen stands on the seashore, taking off his trademark glasses and staring into the distance.

The work will be displayed at The Venetian in Macao until Aug 8 as a part of A Very Different Macao, a touring exhibition to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the handover of Macao to China and the enormous changes that followed.