Meet in Beijing arts festival kicks off highlighting Asian culture

Titled "Asia in Harmony," this year's Meet in Beijing graced the audience in the capital city with a concert performed by the China National Traditional Orchestra together with artists from Japan, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Thailand, and Pakistan at National Centre for the Performing Arts on Thursday.

'Asia in Harmony' concert kicks off this year's Meet in Beijing arts festival on April 25th. [Photo: provided by China Arts and Entertainment Group to China Plus]

In the past years, the festival normally invited a single country to act as guest of honor. But the annual tradition has been broken this year. In order to echo with the first Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations taking place in May, this year's event centers around the theme of Asian culture.

Musicians from Kazakhstan to perform at 'Asia in Harmony' concert. [Photo: provided by China Arts and Entertainment Group to China Plus]

Besides the collaborative concert, a Ballet Gala of Asia will be held in May, which will gather the best Asian ballet troupes, from Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, as well as South Korea and the Philippines, to perform excerpts from classics such as Swan Lake,Don QuixoteandLe Corsaire.

Also under the spotlight will be Japanese-Brazilian bossa nova singer Lisa Ono's jazz concert titled 'Midnight Rose.'

China will be highlighted of course, with a remake of the Peking opera classic 'Farewell My Concubine' performed by Zhang Huoding, one of the country's best known Peking opera stars. Well-known Chinese singer Li Yugang is to perform his cross-dressing show, Princess Zhaojun, based on the legend of the Chinese beauty.

'Asia in Harmony' concert kicks off this year's Meet in Beijing arts festival on April 25th. [Photo: provided by China Arts and Entertainment Group to China Plus]

The festival also keeps aiming to promote cultural exchanges as well as people-to-people exchanges among countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. With a diverse range of programs brought to the festival by participating countries, according to the organizer, it will serve as an important platform for building a community of sharing and understanding.

After 18 years' of evolution, Meet in Beijing has become a key platform for artists and art lovers from around the world to come together and share ideas. According to the organizer, the festival plays a prominent twin role in the art world. One, it is a landing platform for classic world art to enter China, and it is the starting platform for China's excellent stage performance art to enter the world.

'Asia in Harmony' concert kicks off this year's Meet in Beijing arts festival on April 25th. [Photo: provided by China Arts and Entertainment Group to China Plus]

For the past 18 times of Meet in Beijing, the festival has seen 30,000 artists from 120 countries perform, attracting over 4.2 million audience members.

While in the coming month, nearly 600 artists from 35 performing arts groups from 25 countries and regions gather together in Beijing to showcase their talents. The month-long art festival stages around 50 live performances, 3 art exhibitions, an outdoor music festival and a number of public art education activities, providing the audience with a lavish and diverse choice of events.