People in Argentina and Brazil will have an excellent opportunity to sample Chinese culture in November and December.

This is thanks to a cultural festival entitled "Perceptions of China," which includes everything from bronzeware exhibitions to stunning acrobatic displays.

Organized by the Information Office of the State Council of China, the activities include three exhibitions and five performances by Chinese artists.

For its part, the Shanghai Museum is putting 100 pieces of ancient bronzeware on display. All of the pieces are from the high point of bronze production in China, between the Shang and Zhou dynasties -- from the 16th to the 3rd century BC.

China's National Arts and Crafts Museum is offering 200 pieces representing the nation's finest craftsmanship.

Exhibits include jade items, wood carvings, ceramics, lacquerware and embroidery.

The show already attracted great public interest in New York in 2000.

The third exhibition is a collection of more than 400 works by Chinese photographers, carefully selected by the Chinese Photographers' Association.

All of the photos show World Heritage sites in China, of which China boasts the remarkable amount of 30, such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Potala Palace in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

The photos portray both graceful, natural and rich humanistic scenes.

And music lovers will be treated to a joint concert by artists from China and Brazil.

Folk melodies from the two nations will be played by Chinese musicians along with the Brasilia Symphony Orchestra, in co-operation with traditional Chinese musicians and Peking Opera performers.

Organizers also intend to stage two song and dance performances.

Led by famous Chinese dancer, Yang Liping, "Dynamic Yunnan" is characterized by the original songs and dances of the ethnic minorities of Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Out of the total of 55 ethnic minorities in China, 25 live in Yunnan Province, the largest number anywhere in China. It is a paradise of cultural diversity.

Around 70 per cent of the performers in the play are farmers from different ethnic minorities. They lead a colorful life accompanied by improvizational singing and dancing after their farm work.

While "Ancient Music, Rite of Spring" is a creation of the Beijing Modern Dance Company.

In the dance, music with flavors of five ancient civilizations -- Babylon, Egypt, India, Greece and China -- is used as the score for the first act, with Russian composer Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" being used for the second act.

The cultural festival also brings along the world-famous Shaolin kung fu presented by Songshan Mountain Buddhist Monks Group.

Founded in 1987, the group comes from the home of martial arts -- Central China's Henan Province. All group members are monks from the Shaolin Temple.

Another gift from China will be a magical acrobatics performance by the Shenyang Acrobatics Group of Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Organizers believe that it is going to be a great opportunity for cultural exchanges between China and Latin America.

The cultural festival will help strengthen understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Exhibition of ancient Chinese bronzeware

Time: November 8-22 in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina

The "Dynamic Yunnan" performance

Time: November 9-11 in Sao Paulo, Brazil; November 16-21 in Buenos Aires.

Acrobatics performance

Time: November 18 in Sao Paulo

The Shaolin kung fu performance

Time: November 19-20 in Sao Paulo

Exhibition of photos of World Heritage Sites in China

Time: November 11-24 in Sao Paulo

Exhibition of Chinese arts and crafts

Time: November 18-December 15 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The "Perceptions of China" concert

Time: November 9-10 in Rio de Janeiro

The dance performance "Ancient Music, Rites of Spring"

Time: November 16 in Sao Paulo

(China Daily November 2, 2004)