Nanjing to show off to the world at London Design Festival

A special "limo-living-room" exhibition hall will be placed alongside the Thames River. [Photo/jschina.com.cn]

Cultural elements of Nanjing, such as Yunjin brocade, Kunqu Opera and the Ming Dynasty City Wall will be showcased at the London Design Festival from Sept 17 to 23.

The items will be displayed at a special "Nanjing Week", which will include a Kunqu Opera performance of The Peony Pavilion in William Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.

During the week, artists from China and the UK will collaborate to stage a series of revised Kunqu Operas at Shakespeare's Globe.

The performances will coincide with a series of celebratory events to mark the 400th anniversary of two master wordsmiths, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and Tang Xianzu (1550-1616), who is regarded as "the Oriental Shakespeare".

Artists from Nanjing will combine traditional art with modern elements during the promotional week. Tang's Kunqu Opera "The Peony Pavilion", for instance, will be mingled with Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and presented with the aid of virtual reality and 3D effects. Artists will also stage impromptu Kunqu Opera flash mobs at famous landmarks throughout London.

Nanjing has prepared a collapsible villa to display the city's landscape and Chinese culture. The villa will be placed outside London City Hall and will unfold every hour to coincide with the lifting of the London Bridge.

Artists will demonstrate traditional Chinese paintings, qin, calligraphy, and wood-carvings during the day. While in the evening, landscapes of Nanjing will be projected onto the four walls of the villa to form a continuous panoramic view of the city.

This is not the first time that "Nanjing Week" has gone global. "Nanjing Week" amazed visitors at the 2015 Expo Milano and will show more of its history and cultural and creative industries to the world in London.

Xu Yiwei contributed to the story.