What's on

Silk Road art

Nearly 200 artworks by artists from some 112 countries are now on show at Silk Road: Artists Rendezvous, an exhibition at the National Art Museum of China through to Thursday. An effort to celebrate the spirit of the old Silk Road and enhance exchanges among cultures, the exhibition gathers oil paintings, Chinese paintings, sculptures and mixed-media works, part of which were created by international artists based on their earlier travels across China. Part of the works are from the National Art Museum's collection, and the rest are commissioned works for the show by established Chinese artists. It is an event to hail cultural cooperation. Videos are also on display in which artists featured at the exhibition share their experiences when traveling in China.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.

Garden scenery

A "museum of gardens", the Summer Palace, or Yiheyuan, used to be a resort for imperial families who sought shelter from the heat while enjoying a glimpse of the country's representative scenes recreated in the spacious garden in Beijing's northwestern corner. For decades, it has also been a spot for sketching by painters, such as Dai Ze, a retired professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts who turned 100 years old this year. Centenarian Painter Under the Sunny Scenery, an exhibition at the De He Garden in the Summer Palace, shows dozens of Dai's oil paintings and watercolors, depicting the imperial garden's changing views throughout the year and a variety of architecture. It also shows the career navigation of a colorist over the years: Dai is able to present an atmosphere of serenity with a soft palette, making viewers of his work feel as if time has stopped. The exhibition ends on Oct 9.

8 am-6 pm, closed on Mondays. 19 New Palace Gate Road, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-6288-1144.

Modern masters

The Infinite Universe of Wuji, an exhibition at the China Millennium Monument in Beijing, navigates the course of modern and contemporary Western art since the 19th century. It gathers 62 works by master artists who had a far-reaching influence in Europe and on the first-generation of Chinese artists studying in Europe in the early 20th century. The works on show are from the collection of the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, located near Valle Giulia in Rome, which hosts an assembly of 20,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations from the 1800s until today. The exhibition, running through to Oct 30, is a celebration of the China-Italy year of culture and tourism. The exhibition title incorporates the Chinese philosophical term wuji to offer viewers a distinctive perspective of looking at the exhibits. Featured artists include Edgar Degas, Amedeo Modigliani, Giorgio de Chirico and Pablo Picasso, to name a few, whose works cover a wide range of art movements such as cubism, metaphysical art and surrealism. It is a deep look into the system of Italian art and also European art in a time span of 150 years, which helped shape the world of art as it is today.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 9A Fuxing Road, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-8418-7900.

Children's imagination

Click Ten Kids+: Home as Stageplay is a project initiated by artist Jin Qiuye who has designed an interactive space at Click Ten Art Space, in Beijing's 798 art district. Here young visitors can play, perform and find their own ways to communicate with contemporaries, parents and other adults. Jin was inspired by the idea that home serves as the first stage and the most intimate world for children, where they can have a full expression, and where they realize they are the focus and "superstar" of the whole family. Dozens of blocks have been assembled at the space to form a temporary home, and an "artificial mountain", reminding its players of the ones they love the most in parks and playing grounds. Jin says they hope the project will motivate children to move, think and imagine. The project also aims for children to enjoy the fun of being in an animated, three-dimensional world rather than the confinement of virtual worlds. The project runs to Sept 25.

10:30 am-6:30 pm, Wednesday to Sunday. 31A Wanhongli, south gate of 798 art zone, Chaoyang district, Beijing.