Art beat in February

Avril rocks

Canadian pop-punk singer Avril Lavigne is going to rock the stage in Guangzhou on Feb 23. The 30-year-old singer is especially popular in Asia. She debuted in 2002 with a carefully crafted image of a cool, rebellious girl who plays guitar and skateboards. One of the best-received Western artists in China's pop music scene, Lavigne has completed two highly successful tours in China since 2008. Lavigne's latest tour will see her perform tracks from her fifth album Avril Lavigne, which was released in 2013 as a tribute to her first album Let Go. Her latest hits include Here's To Never Growing Up and Rock N Roll. Lavigne's concert tour to eight Chinese cities will kick off in Shanghai on Feb 21 and run until March 9.

8 pm, Feb 21. Mercedes-Benz Arena, 1200 Expo Avenue, Pudong New Area, Shanghai. 021-5150-9199.

8 pm, Feb 23. Guangzhou Gymnasium, 783 Baiyun Dadaonan (Avenue South), Baiyun district. 400-610-3721.

Canton fair begins

This year's weeklong Canton Temple Fair will kick off in Guangzhou with a group of 10 couples at the opening ceremony held in Chenghuang Temple to celebrate Valentine's Day. The annual parade displaying folk cultures from around the world-the temple fair's biggest event-will kick off at 10 am on Sunday. In addition to the national intangible cultural heritage long-drum dance of the Yao people, art troupes from Hong Kong, South Korea, Turkey and France will also participate in the big parade. Moreover, art lovers will be interested in the temple fair's display of 18 intangible cultural heritage forms. Foodies will be excited for the special night cruises on the Pearl River during the fair, where they can snack on dim sum, drink tea and enjoy Cantonese opera on the cruise.

Feb 14-20. Chenghuang Temple, Beijing Lu (Road), Yuexiu district, Guangzhou. 020-8666-1950. Free entrance.

Century of oil painting

Guangdong Museum of Art is displaying 160 contemporary Chinese oil paintings to review the development of Western art in China over the past century. The exhibition, Essence of China, kicked off its national tour in Guangzhou and will travel on to Wuhan in Hubei province, Shanghai, and Jinan in Shandong province. Visitors are exposed to various genres - realism, expressionism, imagism and abstractionism. The exhibits are works by more than 60 artists, mainly from the China National Academy of Painting.

9 am-5 pm, until Feb 22 (closed on Mondays). Hall 1-4, 10-12, Guangdong Museum of Art, 38 Yanyu Lu (Road), Ersha Island, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou. 020-8735-1468.

German orchestra visits capital

The Guerzenich Orchestra of Cologne, one of Germany's oldest and most respected orchestras, is set to visit Beijing. Under the baton of Markus Stenz, it will perform Richard Wagner's Overture to Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg and Richard Strauss' An Alpine Symphony, Op 64. Clarinet player Sabine Meyer, one of the world's most renowned instrumental soloists, will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K 622. Conductor Stenz visited China with the orchestra for the first time in 2007 to great acclaim.

7:30 pm, Feb 23. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.

-Chen Nan