Diverse arts festival brings the world to Beijing

Jose Carreras will sing in Chinese at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

A special section of the festival will be the Latin American Arts Season, which will showcase art from 18 Latin American countries, including Uruguay, Mexico and Cuba.

Latin American Arts Season is just one of the mini festivals within the festival. Others are the Strawberry Music Festival, Chaoyang Pop Music Festival, INTRO Electronic Music Festival, Festival Croisement and Beijing International Women Festival.

The 2013 Meet in Beijing will close with Beijing People's Art Theater's drama White Deer Plain, which is adapted from the well-known novel of the same title and features Shaanxi dialect and traditional Qinqiang Opera.

Meet in Beijing Arts Festival was inaugurated in 2000 by the Ministry of Culture to celebrate the new millennium. Over 1,000 companies and 30,000 artists from 110 countries and regions have performed at the festival, including the Bolshoi Theater, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Placido Domingo.

"China is a big country, and as a comprehensive arts festival in the capital, Meet in Beijing should introduce more international artists to China, as well as Chinese artists to the world," Zhang says.

Some works featured in past festivals went on to tour internationally. Dance drama Qingming Riverside was staged at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in January, while another dance drama Silk Road was presented at the Lincoln Center in New York in February and March.

"We hope we can connect China and the world through Meet in Beijing Arts Festival," Zhang says.