'Meet in Beijing' Arts Festival

The increasingly popular international annual "Meet in Beijing" Arts Festival, the latest of which got under way on April 28 and runs until May 31, is hosted by China's Ministry of Culture, Beijing Municipal Government, and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

"相约北京"联欢活动是由中华人民共和国文化部、北京市人民政府、国家广播电影电视总局主办，由中国对外文化集团公司、北京市文化局承办的，以弘扬中华民 族文化，引进外国艺术精华，促进国际文化交流为宗旨的，一项集广泛性和多样性为一体的国家级大型综合国际艺术节。从2000 年至今，已经成功举办了四届，产生了良好的社会影响。

第五届"相约北京"联欢活动将于2005 年4月28日至5月31日在北京举办，今年的主题是"文化多样性：传承与创新"。本届"相约北京"联欢活动将由剧场演出、广场联欢、艺术展览等固定几部分组成，以"法国印象"、"丹麦之声"、"欧盟之春"等主题版块为亮点项目。来自世界30 多个国家的50 余个优秀团体，将展现不同文化之间的碰撞、交流与融合，重点项目都和今年世界重大纪念活动和中国重要对中外文化交流活动有关。与往年相比，更加突出文化的多样性，艺术的多样性和地域的多样性。

Since its first staging in 2000, four successful festivals have been mounted in the Chinese capital, with a total of more than 200 artistic groups and individual performers from China and around the globe taking part. The 2003 event was cancelled because of the SARS epidemic, but it was again "all systems go" in 2004.

The 2005 festival will again see an unfolding tapestry of human talent including performances by ballet and other dance troupes, foreign orchestras, individual acts, and arts exhibitions - what might be termed a mixed bag of international culture.

This fifth festival is in three distinct but complementary parts: theatre performances, "square" entertainments (in that they are performed on an open-air stage in Chaoyang Park), and art exhibitions.

The theatre presentations are sub-divided into three series: original Chinese dance and drama, including minority song-and-dance routines; ballet and flamenco; and foreign classical music and pop groups. The four art exhibitions are Picasso's print paintings; designs from Finland; New Wave masterpieces; and treasures from the Louis XIV collection.