The Moving Forbidden City: Hu Xiaodan''''s Creative Fashion Works

At Dusseldorf Fashion Exposition in Germany in 1996, the only invited Chinese designer Hu Xiaodan captured attention of world top designers with his creative and exquisite production of Forbidden City attires and was considered the world's most avant-garde designer of the year. For the first time, Chinese national flag was raised at this world-class exposition to honor the accomplishments of Chinese designers and fashion creations.     

LIANG ZI： FASHION LEADER IN GAMBIERED SILK

China Fashion Week 2007 was a lucky event for Liang Zi, a Chinese designer that has committed herself to the concepts of ＂peace, health and beauty＂. At this annual world-class gala for the fashion circle, she won the double honors of ＂Jin Ding Award＂ and ＂Best Female Designer＂, both of which are the top prizes for Chinese fashion designers and had never been awarded to one single designer.     

NE·TIGER A RISING CHINESE LUXURY BRAND

China＇s booming market and growing consumers of luxury goods have attracted world luxury brand names to come for a new round of gold rush. Flagship stores and outlets of famous brands such as Louis Vuitton and Giorgio Armani are burgeoning in big cities across the country. In this intense struggle for market shares in the world＇s fourth largest economy with the biggest potential population of luxury consumers, a local Chinese brand name is growing fast to become an inevitable rival of those Western heavyweights. From Millionaire Fair to Extravaganza, it has been invited as an equal member to stand amidst world top-class brand names such as Rolls Royce, Cartier and Dior. It is NE.TIGER, a shining fashion brand founded in China and by a Chinese designer. ＂In fact, China has exported numerous luxuries to the rest of the world for hundreds of years, such as silk, porcelain and tea. In the contemporary time, NE.TIGER will continue this glorious tradition and try to be the best example of China＇s high-end brand names,＂ said Zhang Zhifeng, chairman and chief designer of NE·TIGER.     

Cai Guoqiang： I Want to Believe

For Cai Guoqiang, August 2008 means a time full of not only challenge but also grace. As the chief designer of fire display for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Cai demonstrated his aesthetics of gun powder in front of more than 4 billion viewers from across the world. Also in this month, his solo exhibition Cai Guoqiang： I Want To Believe＂ was opened in Beijing, which was co-presented by the National Art Museum of China, Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Center of International Cultural Exchange. Beijing was the second leg of this globa tour. Its exhibition tn Guggenheim in the first half of this year was acclaimed as one of the important cultural events in the world. From February to May,Gugcjenheim moved out all the exhibits, including Picasso＇s, and all its three storeys of exhibition space were used to display Cai＇s works created over the past two decades.     

An Art Dialogue between Chinese and French Designers

“The World of Innovation： An Art Dialogue between Chinese French Designers ”, an exhibition displaying handicraft masterpieces by Chinese and French artists and designers, was on view in May at picturesque Chateau du Clos Luce, a French royal castle where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life.     

Harmony Highlights Liang Zi＇s Fashion Collections

The T-shape stage extended from a pure white background,models presented chic creations in brisk steps,and elegance and harmony were manifested in black and white ,That was a scene at the Chinese Fashion Week in Beijing during which designer Liang Zi showed her Spring -Autumn Collections 2006 with the brand of ＂Tangy＂ and the themen of ＂harmony＂.     

Young sinologists： messengers to spread Chinese culture overseas First session of the 2014 visiting program for young sinologists

The first ＂2014 Young Sinologists Training Program＂ was held from July 2 to 22 in Beijing. Co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and organized by the Center of International Cultural Exchange, the program drew 18 young Sinologists from 15 countries, including the United States, France, India and South Korea. By participating in lectures, seminars and other activities, the participants gained academic inspiration as well as a better understanding of China. At the opening ceremony, Chinese vice cultural minister Ding Wei said, ＂Studies on the 21 st-century China is a compulsory course. Chinese development is closely related with world development and the Chinese Dream connects with dreams of the people from the rest of the world.＂     

Designer Brings Cultural Awareness to Fashion

The appointment was delayed. I didn‘t want to disturb Hu Xiaodan when I saw he was so busy with his work. Sporting a crew cut and lightweight casual clothes, he looked more like a university professor than the ““““the pride of Chinese fashion designers““““. It was hard to picture him as the cenfroversial figure in the circle of fashion design, and he spoke with quiet conviction about his dedication to ““““borrowing““““ ideas from the Chinese culture.     

Chinese Does Not Only Belong to China： the First World Chinese Conference

With China＇s growing economy and its more extensive exchange with the world in trade, culture and education, more and more people in the world are learning Chinese. It is in this context that the first World Chinese Conference, with the theme of “Chinese Development in the Context of Cultural Diversity”, opened on July 20 in Beijing, attracting some 600 participants from the globe.     

Showcasing the Spirit of the Olympics through Art

The exhibition of ＂Olympic Fine Arts 2008＂ opened in Beijing International Exhibition Center on August 11 in celebration of the 29th Olympic Games. The event was initiated by the International Olympic Committee and co-organized by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Organizing Committee of Beijing Olympic Games. With the theme of ＂China and the world＂ and the slogan of ＂Art makes Olympics better＂, this international gala for art precisely expressed and continued the spirit and concept of ＂Olympic Contest for Sports and Art＂, an event that was held in Sydney and Athens respectively,     

NE·TIGER Releases National Apparel Series

At the release ceremony of Olympic costumes early this year, NE·TIGER, dubbed as ＂China＇s top luxury brand name＂, presented an openig showcase. Soon after the ceremony, its haute-couture series of Chinese national apparel stunned world fashion designers in Hong Kong.     

Top Art Collectors Dominate World＇s Art Market

ARTnews magazine, a prestigious USA-based art periodical with a history of 105 years,announced in 2007 the ARTnews 200, its annual list of the 200 most active players in the art market. However, only a few of Asian names were included in this annual list and there was no single Mainland Chinese name on the ARTnews 200 that year. What did that list on the world＇s leading art collectors mean to the overheated art market in China and 70 million Chinese who are involved with art collection？     

THEVALUEBEYONDTHE VALUABLES--A glinpse of master Painter Qi Baishi

If there is any miracle in the modern fine affs history of China, you can＇t point anyone but him. His name is Qi Baishi who lived through 1864 to 1957 and was a benchmark of Chinesefine arts and a great man of his time. He used to be a carpenter, but because of his persistence on the exploration of art, he climbed onto the peak of Chinese fine arts and eventually became a world renowned Chinese painting master.     

A Brief Review of Chinese Print

Chinese print can date back 1100 years. For example, carved bricks and stones in the Han Dynasty are actually ear, forms of woodprint. As a type of print art, wood board printing invented in the Tang Dynasty was closely related to life of ordinary people and helped to spread arts in ancient China. Buddhist sutra Vajracchedika printed in 868 AD is the important evidence testifying to the wood board printing of the Tang Dynasty and the world＇s earliest complete printed book still preserved today. Thus it is generally recognized as the peak of print art of the Tang Dynasty.     

Harmony in Diversity Xu Jianjun’s Freehand Ink and Wash Painting

Chinese ink and wash painting is an exceptional expression of Oriental fine arts enshrined in the world’s pantheon of art.It enjoys popularity among both Chinese and Western people,in particular because of its cultural richness and distinct artistic values. Over the sweep of history,Chinese ink and wash painting has developed an independent system,     

Tang Dynasty Antiquities：Blending Exoticism and Tradition

The Tang Dynasty(618-907 AD)was one of the most powerful dynasties in Chinese history.Its flouishing economy and brlliant civilization attractde merchants and scholars from Asia,Europe and even Africa to come to China via the Silk Road for trade and cultural exchange,thus making it a world economic and cultural center of the time.Today,we can still     

Chinese Spring Festival Celebrated in Thailand

From January 23 to February 4, ＂Cultural Series in Celebration of Chinese Spring Festival＂ was launched in Thailand, coorganized by Chinese Cultural Ministry, Chinese Embassy in Thailand and departments of the Thai Government concerned. It was the fifth session of the event and the largest Spring Festival celebration that China held overseas in 2009.     

Art Information

COLLECTION ＆ AUCTION CHEN DANQING＇S ＂SHEPHERDS＂ HITS RECORD HIGH AUCTION PRICE Chinese oil painter Chert Danqing＇s ＂Chinese Studies Institute＂ was sold at 12 million RMB at Poly Autumn Fair 2007. But the record was only kept for less than 24 hours. On the next evening, his masterpiece ＂Shepherds＂, one of the oil paintings from his ＂Tibet Suite＂, was purchased with the price of 32 million R.MB at another auction fair, setting a world record for his personal works. Chen＇s ＂Tibet Suite＂, a seven-piece oil series created around 1980, made a stir in the art circle in the 1980s and was considered bringing fresh air to China＇s art world suffocated by mediocre realism.     

SUNKEN ANCIENT SHIP SALVAGED

Editor＇s words：Over the sweep of history,Chinese people have paid heavy price in their struggles with the ocean.A large number of sunken ships are evidence that testifies to the history of South China Sea as an important maritime passage linking the mainland to the outside world since the Song Dynesty dating back to more than 1000 years.In 1987 the discovery of the sunken Song-Dynasty ship＂South China Sea No.1＂in the border area between Yangjiang and Taishan counties in Guangdong Province is the landmark event for China＇s underwater archeologists.20 years from then on,surveys and excavations done to this ancient ship have witnessed the development of Chinese underwater archeology.With decades of efforts by experts from various fields,the sunken ship was eventually salvaged out of water in 2007 and will be housed in the newly-built Maritime Silk Road Museum in Guangdong...