Art beat in Beijing

Beijing

Fair outlook at Ditan Park

Ditan Park welcomes visitors to its annual Spring Festival fair to appreciate the traditional customs of the Chinese Carnival. Every year, residents will be selected to perform the role of the emperor during the ritual in the morning, which was conducted annually at the beginning of the year to bless the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) harvest. In addition, traditional snacks and handicraft works will be sold.

9 am-5 pm, Feb 9-16. Ditan Park, 2 Andingmenwai Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6421-4657.

Wangfujing drama

The National Center for the Performing Arts presents eight performances, including Peking Opera, a symphony and modern drama, during the Spring Festival holiday. The drama Wangfujing was prepared for two years before it first took to the stage in 2011. The drama tells the stories of people living and working on Wangfujing Street in Beijing.

7:30 pm, Feb 11-16. The National Center for the Performing Arts, west of Tian'anmen Square, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.

Ding ware on view

Ding ware is on view during the Spring Festival holiday. Produced at the Ding kilns in Hebei province, the white porcelain was considered one of the "five great wares" of the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279). Ding ware is famous for the ivory-white or creamy-white color of the majority of its products and was used in the imperial court.

8:30 am-5 pm, until July 31. The Palace Museum, 4 Jingshanqianjie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6513-1892.

Nine Songs from Cloud Gate

The renowned Taiwan contemporary dance company Cloud Gate Dance Theater presents its signature repertoire Nine Songs, choreographed by director Lin Hwai-min. "Cloud Gate" refers to the oldest known dance in China. Lin adopted this classical name for the first contemporary dance company of any Chinese speaking community, in 1973, and it is still the best-known Chinese contemporary dance company. Nine Songs, a cycle of poems written by Qu Yuan some 2,300 years ago, is considered a pinnacle of classical Chinese literature. Inspired by the poems, Lin creates a thoroughly contemporary ritual, in which distant and recent pasts collide.

7:30 pm, Feb 28-March 2. National Center for the Performing Arts, west of Tian'anmen Square, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.

- Chen Jie