The 21st Francophone Festival in China will be held for 20 days beginning March 10, the Canadian embassy in Beijing said last week.

The festival, which was launched in 1996 by International Organization of La Francophonie, a body from the French-speaking world, covers a wide range of cultural activities, including music, movies and the fine arts. This year's festival will be organized in some 200 cities across China.

As part of the festival, 3,500 karaoke bars in the country will offer French songs to its customers, and 22 films from 16 countries and regions will be screened in 21 Chinese cities. The films to be shown include Timbuktu, a Mauritanian film that was nominated in the best foreign language film category at last year's Academy Awards.

Several concerts, singing competitions and exhibitions will also be held. Chinese pop singer Shang Wenjie is the festival's promotional ambassador.

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French Cultures Festival to spread across China in March