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Eason Chan joins star cast of Love in Space

Hong Kong singer Eason Chan has joined the cast of the romance flick Love in Space, a sequel to the 2010 box office hit Hot Summer Days.

The film also stars Aaron Kwok, Ren Liu, Kwai Lun Mei, Angelababy, and Jing Boran, besides Xu Fan, who puts in a special appearance. Wing Shya and Tony Chan, who previously collaborated on Hot Summer Days, direct the film.

The story follows a mother and her three daughters. Each woman is successful in everything except love - until they experience romance in Beijing, Sydney and even on the moon. Chan plays the boyfriend of one of the daughters.

China's leading distribution/production company Huayi Brothers will release the film on Sept 9. Twentieth Century-Fox, which co-produces the film with Huayi and Sundream Motion Pictures from Hong Kong, will distribute the film in the rest of Asia.

Recent graduates to have their own art studios

Nine young recent Chinese art graduates will have their own art studios for a year, thanks to Art Practice Base for College Students, a Beijing-based none-profit organization.

The art base, founded by Beijing International Art Material Center, is located beside the Central Academy of Fine Arts and is aimed at encouraging budding artists. Besides studios, it houses the "College Time Art Space", which is now holding an exhibition of the works of 32 student artists from nine art academies across China.

The Art Practice Base is also planning to start an artist-in-residence program and a creative industry park, to help student artists.

Beijing park aims to boost creative industry

The Huaxi Cultural Creative Industry Park, a platform for enterprises engaged in the creative industry, was launched in Beijing's Fangshan district on Aug 19.

It will also help enhance young Asian artists' awareness of environmental issues through training programs and include a mini-theme park featuring cartoon and video game images.

It is expected to be completed by 2013.

BTV hosts meet fans as part of contest

Hosts of Beijing Television Station (BTV) had a face-to-face meeting with their fans recently in Beijing.

More than 30 contenders of the "My Favorite BTV Hosts" contest met their audiences on Aug 21. While some sang for them, others played games. Most shared their experience of working on a charity project to help children of migrant workers in Beijing.

Audiences can choose their favorite hosts by calling the station, voting online or making their choices through select newspapers before Sept 5.

First index on trends in tourism costs released

The Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has released the first report of the Chinese Tourist Price Index (TPI).

The index, based on ticket prices and cost of hotel, food and transport from the travel portal website wwwlotour.com, captures trends in tourism costs in China from May to July, 2011.

It shows that the most expensive Chinese cities for average overnight tours are Shenzhen, Beijing and Sanya (Hainan), while the cheapest are Shaoshan (Hunan), Korla (Xinjiang) and Beihai (Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region).

The report also covers the nation's hottest tourism destinations, airlines and budget hotels.