Beijing

Neapolitan art

After two years of planning by Chinese and Italian artists, 40 paintings were selected to travel from the National Museum of Capodimonte to Beijing. Entitled Golden Age of Neapolitan Art, the exhibition unfolds Baroque art in Europe from 17th to 18th century. Highlights include Tarantella at Mergellina by Pierre Jacques Volaire (1729-1802), Venice and Adonis by Giovan Battista Caracciolo (1578-1635), all of which are exhibited for the first time in China.

9 am-5 pm, until Sept 15. Beijing World Art Museum, China Millennium Monument, A9 Fuxinglu, Haidian district. 010-5980-2222

Fantasy world of music

A refreshing breeze will blow on a hot summer night when Joe Hisaishi's masterpieces reverberate through the Beijing Concert Hall

This symphony concert will bring you to composer and director Hisaishi's fantasy world of music - including soundtracks for animations such as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro and Nausica of the Valley of the Wind.

7:30 pm, Sept 13. Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhua Jie, Xicheng district, 400-610-3721

Shichahai culture

The 10th Shichahai Culture Tourism Festival is now on at the Former Residence of Soong Ching-ling.

Under the theme of "Imperial Landscape, Beijing People," this festival introduces events including Beijing Xicheng story collection, food promotions, well-thought-out travel itineraries and a micro blogging of Xicheng district competition, Xicheng Gift creative tourism product design competition and Shichahai bars' original songs contest. Visitors can take the chance to experience local culture, boating on the lake, delicacies and wine tasting.

Until Sept 30, Shichahai, Yangfang Hutong, Xicheng district, 010-5932-1109

Shanghai

March to military beat

The Soldier's Tale is a production that combines live orchestral music with theatrical performance. The music is created by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, based on a book by Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz. The show will be provided by musicians of Saito Kinen Orchestra, led by its music director Seiji Ozawa.

7:30 pm, Sept 6. Shanghai Grand Theater, 300 Renmin Avenue. 021-6386-8686

Art and installations

The works in this exhibition are oil on canvas, acrylic on canvas, ink on paper, integrated installation and others. They are created by such artists and art teams as Bird Head, Ding Yi, Huang Kui and Jin Weihong.

10 am-6 pm, until Aug 30. ShanghART Gallery, Building 16, 50 Moganshan Lu. 021-6359-3923

Restaurant week

Shanghai Restaurant Week, which offers value-for-money menus from high-end restaurants, will kick off from Sept 5 to 11. This year, 80 top restaurants in town, divided into two groups, will take part in the event. For Group A, a three-course menu costs 118 yuan per person for dinner and 78 yuan for lunch, while in Group B, a three-course menu is priced at 248 yuan for dinner and 168 yuan for lunch. Online reservations start at 10 am on Aug 17. Call early, as the seats are usually sold out within hours.

www.restaurantweek.cn

Hong Kong

Bird dance

After Natalie Portman made men in tights an art-house hit in her Academy-award wining film Black Swan, it's time to check out the real deal. The Hong Kong Ballet presents Tchaikovsky's soaring score to Swan Lake, a classic ever since it premiered in 1895. The Australian Ballet's principal artist Robert Curran is featured as the poor guy caught between good swan Odette and baddie Odile. Technically, it is a masterpiece that calls upon both emotional and physical prowess from its leads.

7:30 pm, Aug 19-21; 2:30 pm, Aug 20-21. Grand Theater, Hong Kong Cultural Center, 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. 852-2105-9724

London calling

With all eyes focused upon England's capital as its gears up for the Olympic Games next year, Moon Gallery presents the abstract paintings of London-based artist Jonathan Baker. His work depicts the frenetic, frantic metropolis as a jumble of colors and textures using a studied combination of controlled and free-flow brush strokes. Although at first glance the paintings seem purely abstract, figures start popping out upon closer inspection.

11 am-6 pm, until Aug 30 except Sundays. Moon Gallery, Shop 1, G/F, Hua Fu Commercial Building, 111 Queen's Road West. 852-2858-1771

China Daily

(China Daily 08/14/2011 page15)