CULTURE

Childhood Projector

China Film Symphony Orchestra

Date: January 23-24,2023

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

As the only national professional orchestra with a festive orchestra style in the country,the China Film Symphony Orchestra pioneered the fusion of different music styles such as pop music,Latin music,folk music,various kinds of Chinese opera,and symphonic music.Its diverse performing styles,excellent coordination,and virtuosity have received high praise from music circles and audiences at home and abroad.

Minimalist Creation

China National Theatre for Children

Date: January 25-27,2023

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Founded in 1956,the China National Theatre for Children(CNTC) is a national art troupe directly subordinate to the Ministry of Culture.Over the past several decades,CNTC has created and staged many excellent dramas of ancient,modern,Chinese,and foreign themes.It has toured all over the country as well as many foreign countries.The CNTC will,as always,follow the composing rules of children’s plays to train talents and create top-qualitymasterpieces.It is persistently devoted to “enabling every Chinese child to watch children’s plays.”

Music Concerts Perform Tang Poetry in the U.S.

Exhibiting the glory of traditional Chinese culture,poetry from the Tang Dynasty(618-907) was performed in songs in two concerts.

The concerts,one in Philadelphia on January 6,2023 and the other in New York on January 7,were performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra with artists from the international young singers art festival iSING! Suzhou under the baton of Liao Guomin,former assistant conductor of the orchestra.

The artists included two Grammy Award winners and a Broadway musical lead.

Both events featured a series of newly composed songs based on poems from well-known poets from the Tang Dynasty.

As a part of 2023 Happy Chinese New Year celebrations,the concerts were also dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s China tour in 1973.

Tian Haojiang,founder and artistic director of iSING! Suzhou,said that ancient poetry from the Tang Dynasty is a very precious treasure.Those exquisite words and beautiful meanings exhibited in the ancient poems meet the spiritual needs of people even today.

“What we have done is combine the ancient poems from more than 1,000 years ago with modern music,so that the whole world can communicate and integrate with the inspiration of poetry and music,” he said.

ON CHINESE MEDIA

Speeding up the Building of an Agriculture Power

Outlook Weekly

Issue 1,2023

China has been building a strong agriculture sector.It is both innovating the development pattern of agriculture and accelerating its development pace,aiming to achieve breakthroughs in both the quantity and quality of farm products.By the end of 2021,China had built a total of 60 million hectares of high standard farmland.The overall level of mechanization in plowing,sowing,and harvesting exceeded 72 percent.And the grain output had exceeded 650 billion kilograms for seven consecutive years.These all lay a solid foundation for longterm stable economic and social development.

Pursuing Stable Economic Development

Minsheng Weekly

Issue 1,2023

The Central Economic Work Conference noted that efforts will be made to stabilize growth,employment,and prices during the year 2023.All government agencies and all regions across the country are promoting the recovery of the domestic market,so as to achieve steady improvement of the regional economy and people’s lives.

Beautiful Yellow River

Lifeweek

Issue 1,2023

The Yellow River has always been a core topic in research on China’s history and geography.The development of the Chinese civilization is closely related to the changes of the river.Conditions of the river,such as its natural geography,temperature,vegetation,water transport,and water disasters have also affected people’s activities and national development.

Cambodia Awards Medals to Chinese Experts for Contributions to Angkor Restoration

Cambodia recently awarded the government's honorable medal decorations to two Chinese experts in recognition of their contribution to the restoration of ruined temples at the famed Angkor Archaeological Park.Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An presented the "Knight Class" medals to Jin Zhaoyu and Yuan Mengxi at the end of a two-day meeting of the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICCAngkor) in December 2022.

Long Kosal,deputy directorgeneral of the APSARA National Authority,which is the government agency responsible for managing,safeguarding,and preserving the Angkor,said the contribution of the Chinese experts to the conservation and restoration in the Angkor is historical and substantial,and that the experts are very professional,effective,and outstanding.

Located in northwest Cambodia,the Angkor Archaeological Park,inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list in 1992,is the most popular tourist destination in the Southeast Asian nation.Kosal said China has helped restore ruined temples there since 1997,successfully restoring the Chau Say Tevoda Temple and the Ta Keo Temple."China's support has not only contributed to ensuring the sustainable development of our cultural heritage,but also helped train Cambodian experts on how to conduct restoration and preservation work,"Kosal said.

Silk Road Film Festival Closes in Xi'an

The 9th Silk Road International Film Festival concluded on January 3 in Xi'an,capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Closewon the Best Picture Award and its Belgian director Lukas Dhont won the Best Director Award,according to the festival organizers.

The Crossingwas the Best Animated Feature winner andChildren of the Mist,a documentary from Vietnam,won the Best Documentary Feature Award.The Chinese filmThe Battle at Lake Changjin IIwas the winner of the Best Visual Effects Award.

Norwegian actor Pal Sverre Hagen won the Best Actor Award for his role inThe Middle Manand Australian actress Essie Davis won the Best Actress Award for her role inThe Justice of Bunny King.

A total of 1,598 films from 90 countries and regions signed up for the festival,and 19 films entered the final race,according to the festival organizers.

First held in 2014,the film festival this year was hosted by the China Media Group and the provincial governments of Shaanxi and Fujian.