Chinese arts festival takes root and flourishes

Doris Tseng, a librarian at the San Francisco main library, is busier than usual this fall.

As an official liaison, her job is to coordinate seven branch libraries in the Bay Area to get ready for the upcoming Chinese film festival when a total of 20 Chinese blockbusters with English subtitles will be screened for the public starting this weekend.

A part of the fifth annual “Across the Pacific – China Arts Festival”, the film festival features China-made action films, comedies and dramas that include such box office hits as Mr. Six, Detective Chinatown and Monkey King 2.

“Concrete efforts were made to align movie resources in China in order to best showcase to the West the rapidlygrowing film industry, and society and everyday people those films have depicted,” said Xiao Xiayong, culture consul at the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, who is also the architect who initiated the “Across the Pacific – China Arts Festival” five years ago.

On Aug 23, Xiao chaired a news briefing to publicize 12 events – six performances, four exhibitions, one seminar and one film festival – that will run from Sept 7 to Oct 21 in the Bay Area and Sacramento in California; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Programs are tailored around two themes – celebration of the 40th anniversary of China’s launch of reform and opening up, plus the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the China-US relationship – so they are not only wellrounded but consist of vigor, universal values and human interest,” said Zha Liyou, deputy consul-general in San Francisco, at the briefing.

The Cross-Pacific China Arts Festival over the past five years, like a tree has penetrated its roots deeply into the local soil and is now flourishing, Zha said.

Artistic formats are more versatile too, said Xiao.

There are dances. Sichuan Province Song and Dance Theatre sends their drama “The Family” staring leading national dancers, while Beijing Dance Academy will showcase exquisite classical Chinese dances, he said.

There is singing and music. Fifty musicians from the Shandong Philharmonic National Orchestra, as well as world renowned tenor Yijie Shi, will perform both Eastern and Western masterpieces.

For younger audiences, “The Dragon Child”, a stage play by the China National Theatre for Children, is scheduled for Oct 12 and 13, while two sitcoms, Chang Jun “Single Lady” and “Married to Budget Husband”, will target the millennial generation.

As for art exhibitions, the festival has lined up a weeklong painting exhibition: The Backbone of the Pacific Railroad, which will open to the public on Sept 9 in San Francisco, commemorating the contributions and sacrifices early Chinese immigrants made toward America’s prosperity and development.

A month-long exhibition on Han Dynasty portraiture will be held in Seattle, and an exhibition on 5,000 years of Chinese characters displaying the richness of traditional Chinese painting, calligraphy and seal engraving is scheduled for Oct 6 in Las Vegas.

Arts and cultural exchanges can enhance people-to-people understanding and friendship, said Zhang Ruwei, founder of the Shandong Friendship Association, who also oversees the execution of a seminar and exhibition on Confucius, one segment of the China Arts Festival.

“Regardless of skin color, language or ethnic background, people around the world share similar values and all pursue happiness, peace and harmony,” said Zhang. “Through learning and exercising doctrines of Confucius, for example, ‘Man of dignity keeps harmony but seeks no oneness’ might help spread the idea of peaceful co-existence.”

According to organizers, this year’s arts festival emphasizes the importance of joining hands with local partners to guarantee smoother execution and better reception.

“In short, we want to see a deeper integration of our programs with local communities, and a wider range of involvement of local people from all walks of life,” said Xiao. “To me, this is what matters most.”

Misha Pashkov, program manager and Tseng’s colleague at the San Francisco Public Library, said they consistently arrange exhibitions on Chinese culture and Chinese traditional calligraphy classes among members.

“We want to help the public learn the richness of Chinese culture and ancient Chinese civilization,” he said, adding this is the third time the library has taken part in the Chinese arts festival.