China Central Opera House, China's top national theatre, specializing in Western operas, will launch Italian Opera Week introducing a series of Western operas to audiences in China.

Three Italian operas will be presented: Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945), The Barber of Seville by Rossini, and the tragedy Pagliacci, with a concert of the opera overtures within Italian opera.

The Italian Opera Week begins a series of "large-scale performance activities" by the troupe this year, according to Liu Xijin, head of the troupe.

"At the moment, it is difficult to stage Western operas in a cycle in Beijing because the market for Western operas is far from mature here," said Liu.

Founded in 1952, the troupe boasts numerous top opera singers, young and old. Only a lack of funds and sponsors has prohibited the troupe to stage operas regularly and foster more fans.

A common belief among high-art troupes in Beijing is that the more they perform, the more money they lose. Liu is hoping this condition will change.

The members of the troupe are not perturbed that interest in Western operas is still young. They are not only renowned in their fields in China, but have also won awards and fame abroad, even in the home of opera, Italy.

"Such a group of vocal artists is rare to find in China and we aim to do our best to protect the troupe and prove they have a purpose and value to exist," Liu said.

Irrespective of profits, the Italian Opera Week will be on, sponsored by the troupe with the support of the Italian Embassy, Beijing Music Radio and other local media groups.

"There are many international companies who sponsor the arts in their countries. We are looking for enterprises with artistic values who can be our sponsors in the future and make the market of Western operas more prosperous," Liu said.

In the week, two of the operas, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, will be directed by Li Wei, a talented director from Shanghai Opera Theatre. While these will performed in their original language, the comedy The Barber of Seville, directed by Wang Huquan, a veteran baritone in the troupe, will be sung in Chinese.

Senior conductors Gao Weichun and Yu Feng will conduct the symphony orchestra affiliated to the China Central Opera Theatre.

The performances will be staged at the Peking University Concert Hall, Tianqiao Theatre, and the Concert Hall of China National Library.

Time/date: 7:30 pm, November 26, 27, December 12, 13 and 17

Tel: 6551-4787, 6551-4788

北大百年讲堂，北京大学内

Stage

Fire of hatred

Salome, the torrid love story as written in the Bible, will be introduced to Beijing audiences using the modern, experimental dancing steps of Spanish artists.

Time/date: 7:30 pm, November 12

Location: Poly Theatre, Dongsi Shitiao

Tel: 8602-4898

保利剧院，东四十条路口

Elvis lives on

The Elvis Story, a musical created by Canadian artists, will be staged in Beijing recalling the good memories of the great rock star through his life story and legendary music.

Since 1995, Le Capitole de Quebec has been producing the special grand musical in a remarkable production to bring back the best moments of Elvis Presley's life and career. The show takes the audiences back to the idyllic and memorable years of the rock star king, and has become one of the most popular summer attractions in Quebec City.

Time/date: 7:30 pm, November 25-28

Location: Poly Theatre, Dongsi Shitiao

Tel: 8602-4898

保利剧院，东四十条路口

Love's tragic

Veteran Hong Kong pop singer Jacky Cheung will stage the musical Snow-Wolf Lake to audiences in Beijing.

The musical tells a tragic story of lovers from different social backgrounds who become trapped in the scandals and jealousy of friends and strangers. Cheung won his fame seven years ago starring in the first production of the musical. This time, the Mandarin-spoken version will be performed by mainland artists directed by Cheung.

Tickets: 380-2,280 yuan (US$46-275)

Time/date: 7:30 pm, December 24-January 1, 2005

Location: Capital Gymnasium, Xizhimenwai

Tel: 6835-4055

首都体育馆，白石桥路

Dance from Britain

The Random Dance Company from the United Kingdom will perform in Beijing presenting two modern themes.

Their performances mark the beginning of the British drama and dance festival, known as the Beijing Mini Festival of UK Performing Arts, held this month.

Time/date: 7:30 pm, November 12, 13

Location: Tianqiao Theatre, Beiweilu

Tel: 8315-6170

天桥剧场，宣武区北纬路

Pop star

Taiwan pop singer and actress Rene Liu will appear for a pop concert. Enjoying high popularity in the Chinese mainland, Liu says she will keep on singing on stage so long as her fans keep screaming with passion.

Tickets: 120 - 1280 yuan (US$14-154)

Time/date: 7:30 pm, November 19

Location: Capital Gymnasium, Xizhimenwai

Tel: 6835-4055

首都体育馆，白石桥路

Fusion

British company F/Z's Throat, a fusion of dance, theatre, circus, comedy and cabaret, will be staged, a key programme for the UK Performing Arts Mini Festival. Winner of the 2003 Best Contemporary Circus in the World Fair and the 2002 Total Theatre Award for Innovation and Excellence, the work is themed on the relations between humans and their environments.

Time/date: 7:30 pm, November 17-20

Location: Bei Theatre, Beibingmasi Lane, Dongcheng District

Tel: 8602-4898

北兵马司剧场，交道口南大街

Tap me

Led by top tap-dancer and choreographer Michael Flatley from Ireland, the dance spectacular Lord of the Dance is to be staged.

Time/date: 7:30 pm, November 17-21

Location: Beizhan Theatre, Xizhimenwai

Tel: 6835-4455

北展剧场，西直门外大街

Stories in boxes

British performance artist Bobby Baker will present Box Story to conclude the UK Performing Arts Mini Festival. Her performances cover various aspects of life, including health, shopping and educating children. She explores these themes with originality and 'outside the square.?

Tickets: 80-120 yuan (US$10-14)

Time/date: 7:30 pm, December 3-5

Location: Bei Theatre, Beibingmasi Lane, Jiaodaokou, Dongcheng District

Tel: 8602-4898

北兵马司剧场，交道口南大街

Veteran man

Fei Yuqing, Taiwan's veteran singer, who has been singing for over 20 years astounding audiences with his heavenly mellow voice, will return to sing his classics that win many middle-aged fans?hearts.

Programme: Moon Represents My Heart, Small Town's Story, Dreaming of Camel Bells and many others.

Time/date: 7:30 pm, December 10

Tel: 8528-5344

High voice

Chinese mainland pop singer Sun Nan, who does not boasts a handsome face but sings with a high, powerful voice, will hold a concert in Beijing. He has won the favour of many fans with his unique high voice and popular good-to-hear pop songs.

Most of the cheaper tickets are already sold out, and organizers are considering adding another performance to appease the fans.

Time/date: 7:30 pm, December 24

Location: Workers?Gymnasium

Tel: 6501-6655

工人体育馆，东四十条东

Cinema

Delamu (2004)

Director: Tian Zhuangzhuang

Documenting life on one of the most difficult sections on an uncharted route between the mountain village of Bingzhongluo, in western Yunnan Province, to the southern Tibetan border, this team of intrepid travellers traverse the wild terrain using horse caravans across 90 kilometres of high mountains, dense forests, deep gorges, and wastelands.

The documentary is a record of the people, from all walks of life, living along the mysterious Tea-Horse Road, introducing viewers to the astonishing characters who live here: a family of 15 who speak six languages, a pastor who was jailed for 15 years, a 104-year-old woman who lives through three centuries, a solitary village leader whose wife left him, a man who shares his wife with his elder brother, a lonely young lama (a Tibetan monk) and an 82-year-old legendary nomadic master.

In Chinese with English subtitles.

Tickets: 50 yuan (US$6)

Time/date: 8 pm, November 12 - 13

Location: Cherry Lane Movies, Gate 29, Anjialou Street, northeast of Century Theatre

Info: www.cherrylanemovies.com.cn

樱花巷/安家楼路 世纪剧院东北

It's Not Over Until It's Over

(Pachito Rex)

Director: Fabian Hofman

This story of several anecdotes revolves around the assassination of controversial singer, Francisco Ruiz, candidate favourite to win the presidential election of an imaginary American-type country: the stories of the alleged assassin, of a policeman in charge of investigating the disappearance of the body, and of an architect hired to design a mausoleum in homage to the possible dictator.

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Tickets: free

Time/date: 7:30 pm, November 17

Location: Mexican Embassy, 5 Dongwujie, Sanlitun

Tel: 6532-2244

墨西哥使馆，三里屯东五街5号

The Best Day of My Life

(Il piu?bel giorno della mia vita) (2002)

Director: Cristina Comencini

Starring: Luigi Lo Cascio, Virna Lisi, Margherita Buy, Sandra Ceccarelli

The lively and provocative lives of three brothers and their mother, Irene, living in an old villa, are watched through the eyes of a young girl, through her video camera received as gift.

In Italian with English subtitles.

Tickets: free

Time/date: 7 pm, November 18

Location: Italian Embassy, 2 Dong'erjie, Sanlitun

Tel: 6532-2187

意大利使馆，三里屯东二街2号

Senior director

A series of films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni are to be shown in an event entitled "A retrospective of Michelangelo Antonioni."

Seven short movies, eight full-length movies and two documentaries about this great Italian filmmaker who be shown. Most importantly, his 4-hour documentary "Chung Kuo," shot in 1972, will be shown to the Chinese public for he first time.

Time/date: From November 25 to December 5

Location: Beijing Film Academy, Xisanhuan Beilu

For more info, please call: 6532-2187

北京电影学院，西三环北路

French impressions

A large-scale painting exhibition of French impressionist artworks is underway at the China Art Museum.

A total of 51 representative paintings by 14 outstanding impressionist painters are on display, including pieces by Edouard Manet, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas. This is the highest standard of the genre ever shown in China, revealing the origin and development of impressionist art in France.

Time/date: 9 am - 5 pm until November 27

Location: 1 Wusi Dajie

Tel: 6401-7076

中国美术馆

Qi and complexity

Consciousness Reframed 2004 is an international forum concerned with developments in art, technology and consciousness, centering on the emerging issues under the rubric of complexity and qi.

From semantics to neural networks to cosmology, to economics and biology, a growing science of complexity interconnects theoretical models in a general field of instantiated knowledge. The ancient Chinese possessed their own schema of systematic complexities and correspondences: qi.

Qi is the basis of all Chinese arts, health and philosophy, with all to be reflected in an art exhibition and electronic music performance at the Red Gate Gallery.

Time/date: 10 am - 5 pm, November 24 - 27

Location: Dongbianmen Watchtower, Chongwenmen

Tel: 6525-1005

东便门角楼崇文门

New boundaries

A different kind of print exhibition, featuring artistic breakthroughs by the participating artists, is on at Top Space Gallery. A total of 24 contemporary Chinese artists take part in this exhibition presenting their latest print works to demonstrate their bold understanding of life in the modern world.

Time/date: 11 am - 7 pm until November 14

Location: Taikang Life Building, 156 Fuxingmennei Dajie

Tel: 6642-6403

泰康大厦，复兴门内大街156号

Chinese kitchen

A photographic exhibition about changes in the kitchens of Chinese homes, by Xue Jun, is on at the Fafa Gallery.

As an essential, yet often overlooked, part of a domestic household lifestyle, kitchens have experienced dramatic changes over the past two decades in China, a country famous for its distinctive and diverse tastes. Xue uniquely aims his lens to record the unnoticed changes of utensils, decorations, electrical appliances and even cooking methods in Chinese kitchens as a reflection of practical transformations.

Time/date:10:30 am - 8 pm until November 20

Location: 1 Xiangjiang Beilu

Tel: 8450-6888 ext 304

香江北路1号

The environment

Movement and feeling related to the environment is what artist Sekine Nobuo depicts at his personal show atthe Beijing Tokyo Art Projects. The exhibition features the latest works by the Japanese artist that ponder over the existing world we all live in.

Time/date: 10:30 am-6 pm until November 28

Location: 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu

Tel: 8457-3246

酒仙桥路4号

Yang's world

Artist Yang Gang's solo exhibition will begin at the Creation Gallery on November 13.

Breaking away from traditional Chinese brush stroke painting, Yang has made himself noted for abstract works regarded as a signature and symbol of Chinese contemporary art. The exhibition showcases his latest works of ink and oil paintings created during Yang's exploration of the land and people of Inner Mongolia.

Time/date: 10 am-7 pm, November 13-21

Location: north end of Ritan Lu

Tel: 8561-7570

日坛路北端

Impressionist souvenirs

In conjunction with the ongoing French impressionist painting exhibit at the China Art Museum, art souvenirs related to the genre are available for art lovers and collectors now in China.

The souvenirs are printed articles including oil duplicates, stamps, wall calendars, celebration cards and notebooks, all under authority of the copyright owner and certificated original souvenirs. The souvenirs are also available online. Visit www.guaweb.com for details.

Capital of emperors

A cultural relic exhibition featuring the gorgeous artistic and cultural history of Beijing as the capital of so many dynasties in its past is now open at China's Millennium Monument.

On showcase are more than 100 pieces of valuable historical artefacts carefully selected from the collections of several museums within Beijing, ranging from chinaware, paintings, calligraphy works, bronze sculptures and exquisite handicrafts, discovered in the Beijing area and dated as far back as 3,000 years ago. All the items were on exhibit previously in Athens, from May 17 to October 11, as a prelude introduction to the world about Beijing as host city for 2008 Olympics.

Time/date: 9 am - 5 pm, until December 7

Location: 9A Fuxing Lu

Tel: 6851-3322

中华世纪坛