French cultural festival to open in Shanghai

2014 marks the 50th anniversary of Chinese and French diplomatic ties, and the celebration lasts all year in both countries. Echoing the China-French theme of this year's "Meet in Beijing" festival, several French cultural events will be held in Shanghai over the next three months as part of the 9th Croisements Festival.

Ray Lema and his quintet perform a unique combination of jazz and traditional African music. Hundreds of people took part in their concert last weekend.

"The atmosphere here is like in Paris. I'm fan of jazz. My mom plays the clarinet. So the concert tonight let me forget the reality and go into a dream world," said Lison Mage, audience member.

"It's the first time I've been here to listen to such jazz concert. My friends told me the atmosphere here is fabulous. And I don't regret to come here," said Guy Langlois, audience member.

This is the second time Lema has performed in China.

"China is my inspiration. I use a lot percussion music in my traditional African music. I found out that traditional Chinese music also uses a lot of percussion instruments. So I have a plan to mix the two music styles," said Ray Lema.

Also as part of the festival, a tapestry show was held featuring an Egyptian tapestry that dates back to the 6th century, and other pieces collected by the Museum of Modern Art of Paris.

"The tapestry is related to furniture or decoration for many people. But these exhibits tell people that the textiles have character. Some of them gave inspiration to big names such as Picasso and architects such as Le Corbusier," said Gong Yan, Director of Shanghai Power Station of Art.

The festival was set up as an opportunity to show off French culture in China. This year's event runs through July 10th.

"This year you have a new circuit. You have mime and clowns, and also object theater like Romeo and Juliette done with little corks. There will be some other exhibitions opening and several very big performances like important ballets from France, like the Marseilles Ballet," said Marion Bertagna, Consul General of France to Shanghai.

Festivals are being held in 10 cities across the Yangtze Delta Region, including Hangzhou and Nanjing.