From thousands of years old relics to burgeoning avant-garde art, China and European countries are promoting cultural exchanges to boost mutual understanding.

With Chinese contemporary art gaining more of the spotlight on the international market, when one of the biggest Chinese contemporary art collectors, Belgian baron Guy Ullens, opened the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), it was one of the landmark events in Chinese contemporary art circles.

The center plans to hold exhibitions of local and international contemporary art and seminars to provide channels for the world to understand Chinese contemporary art better, according to the UCCA Artistic Director Fei Dawei.

Art critic Yang Wei said, "China should not always be showing the world ancient city walls and the Forbidden City. Contemporary artists are using a kind of international art language to tell the world stories in a quickly changing China."

New Beijing Gallery art designer Li Feng said China is now more open and tolerant of contemporary art and thus many European avant-garde artists would love to hold exhibitions in China or even move their workshops here. They could also spur on Chinese contemporary art.

Besides the burgeoning contemporary art scene, thousands-of-years-old relics often serve as cultural ambassadors between China and European countries.

After the British Museum brought 272 pieces of relics for exhibition to Beijing last March, the Louvre Museum came with 130 pieces of marble statues, potteries and golden ware this August to showcase the art of ancient Greece.

"It was shocking. I experienced ancient Greek culture without going abroad. I've seen a totally different culture form," said 27-year-old Beijing citizen Ding Ying, who visited the exhibition which ended early November.

The British Museum and the Palace Museum signed a letter of intent this June to promote cooperation on exhibition, research, relics repair and education.

More than 2,000-years-old terracotta soldiers are also serving as cultural ambassadors in the British Museum. The museum is planning to take the unprecedented step of staying open 24 hours a day to meet the huge demand, according to the Daily Telegraph, saying the total visitors are expected to exceed 800,000 - more than twice the figure predicted when the exhibition opened in September.

The Confucius Institute provides another platform between China and European countries. Since 2004, China has set up about 170 Confucius Institutes overseas, most in Europe, Asia and America, to teach Mandarin and promote Chinese culture to those who are curious about China.

Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) has helped set up 11 Confucius Institutes overseas, including ten in Europe and the institutes run well after one-year of operation, said Zhong Meisun, vice president of BFSU, which is one of the organizations sponsoring many Confucius Institutes.

In addition, many cultural weeks and seminars are also active between China and European countries to promote mutual understanding.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2007)