A spectacular performance by the Ballet Company of Opera de Paris brought down the house at the Beijing Exhibition Hall Theatre last Friday and Saturday.

It also brought down the curtain on a large scale cultural event - the Year of France in China - which started last October with Jean-Michel Jarre's electronic music in front of the Forbidden City.

During this farewell performance, Serge Lifar's "Suite en Blanc" allowed the ballerinas to display their technical virtuosity to the full. French master choreographer Roland Petit's sentimental contemporary work "L'Alesienne" in front of the huge down-to-the-floor paintings by Van Gogh touched the audience with its neoclassic choreography and passion. And Maurice Bejart's amazing "Bolero" brought the night to a fitting climax.

Last bouquet

It is the last bouquet France presented to its Chinese friends in the China-France Culture Year, as French President Jacques Chirac wrote in his letter to the Chinese Ministry of Culture, and it was without question the most beautiful.

Highlights during the closing period also included two big parties on the weekend, one at the imperial Summer Palace and the other on the Great Wall.

Saturday evening, eve of the Chinese traditional Mid-Autumn Festival and a night bathed in the clean and shining moonlight, some 2,000 people from the two countries enjoyed a water show on Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace. Chinese folk performances include Kunqu Opera, puppet shows and lion dances.

While the Mid-Autumn Festival eve at the Summer Palace featured rich flavours of traditional Chinese culture, the Badaling Section of the Great Wall became what amounted to a French village on September 17 and 18.

Hundreds of French cooks, folk artists and craftsmen joined a huge picnic, with folk performances in the big parking lots at the foot of the Great Wall. For Chinese visitors who have never been to France, it was a first chance to get a taste of the European country.

They enjoyed French food, watched the French folk performances and bought French souvenirs, including rooster seals that organizer Gad Weil and his colleagues had designed specially for the event.

The red seal features a white abstract figure of a rooster with an shining blue crest. The line of the rooster's body is like the shape of the Badaling Great Wall.

"2005 is the Chinese year of the rooster while the rooster is also the symbol of France. Chinese seals have been known worldwide since one was incorporated into the logo of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," said Weil.

The Great Wall picnic was an answer to an unprecedented Chinese New Year's parade on the Champs-Elysees on January 22, 2004.

With some 7,500 people participating, it was a highlight of the Year of China in France - and it was organized by Gad Weil.

One and a half years later, he got the chance to replicate his efforts by inviting French artists to participate in the event at the Great Wall.

In addition to these highlights, the China Film Archive screened three Sophie Marceau films on September 16 and 17, while nearly 20 French exhibitions finished one after another this month in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

Unforgettable memories

The Year of France in China formed the second part of the France-China Exchange Years initiated by the presidents of the two countries to develop a global partnership between France and China.

From last October, French artists, scholars and engineers participated in the same creative spirit that lay at the heart of the Year of France in China.

Old masterpieces were exhibited alongside the finest of France's contemporary art scene and installations highlighting the country's scientific and technical achievements.

Over the last year, the Forbidden City has been filled with Jean-Michel Jarre's electronic music, the National Art Museum of China crowded with fans of the French Impressionist paintings and Shanghai's Oriental Pearl television tower awash with red, white and blue lighting, representing the colours of the French flag.

The establishment of the Institute Pasteur, a Franco-Chinese technology institute, in Shanghai, and a French cultural centre in Beijing were other major events.

Industrial initiatives, an assortment of film festivals and numerous conferences completed the programme.

This strong and varied presence has helped to increase exchanges and intensify the dialogue between France and China.

The Year of France in China has benefited from the joint involvement of French and Chinese national and local authorities, as well as cultural, educational and scientific institutions in the two countries.

It also received vital support from the Year of France in China's Committee of Honour, which has united around 40 French and Chinese companies who chose to support this unprecedented event.

French President Jacques Chirac summarized it aptly in his letter to the Chinese Ministry of Culture: "The hundreds of events launched in China have proved that a close bilateral relationship can be established on the basis of a spirit of dialogue and sharing."

Chinese officials have echoed similar sentiments.

"The year makes Sino-French relations the best ever in history," said Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

(China Daily 09/20/2005 page3)