Hong Kong

Read all about it

Bookworms breathless to snap up the latest e-novels will be lining up all along Wanchai's various overpasses to get into the 22nd annual Hong Kong Book Fair. The enormous extravaganza will include more than 520 exhibitors from over 16 countries, alongside about 300 related cultural events.

Stock up on educational material from the likes of Oxford University Press or arty coffee-table glossies from Page One while enjoying cool discounts. You can even pick up stationery and novelty items featuring celebrity pig McDull and his friends.

Don't miss the local independent publishers, who will set up shop to introduce their latest editions, hot off the presses.

10am-10pm, July 24-25; 9am-5pm, July 26. Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai. 852-3128-8288

Rear views

The first decade of the 21st century was dominated by digital technology - and this experimental platform found an outlet in films from the past 10 years. "A Lean Night 2011-Fresh!" takes a look back at 30 films that captured the fast paced Internet age with its instant information and anything goes attitude.

The 2004 film 3-Iron, by intriguing South Korean director Kim Ki-duk, is a love triangle that explores the alienation of modern times, while Zoo, a 2007 Sundance nominee by director Robinson Devor, is based on a real life story of an engineer who got a bit too up close and personal with a horse, which gives a whole new dimension to giddying up.

Zoo, 7:30 pm, July 29; 3 Iron, 7:30 pm, July 30. agns b. Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wanchai. 852-2582-0273

Boundary crossings

Hong Kong and Shenzhen share much more than a border. The two special administrative regions are both gateways to 21st century entrepreneurship, and draw hardworking opportunists from all over the world who are willing to risk it all for big returns. With multicultural inspiration as its theme, more than 40 designers from the two south Chinese cities showcase their work at the SZ. HK Design Exhibition 2011. Take a look and discover both the commonalities and differences of the two border cities' creative minds and how they view their place in the world.

9 am-6 pm, until July 26. Atrium and Chamber 2, Inno Center, 72 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong. 852- 2522-8688

Shanghai

Art from Shaanxi

A group show in Shanghai reflects the rich cultural and historical heritage of Shaanxi that have deeply influenced the local art scene there. The exhibition features more than 130 paintings by 16 artists.

9 am-5 pm, Jul 14-27, Shanghai Art Museum, 325 Nanjing Road W. 021-6327-2829

Beethoven in summer

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra will play under the baton of its founder and maestro, pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, playing three Beethoven classics: Symphony No 1 in C major, Symphony No 8 in F major, and Symphony No 5 in C minor.

7:30 pm, Aug 8. 88-888 yuan. Shanghai Oriental Art Center, 425 Dingxiang Road. 021-6854-1234.

Running the numbers

The exhibition by Chris Jordan, an artist based in Seattle, Washington, looks at contemporary western culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: two million plastic bottles (five minutes of bottle consumption in the US), 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of US can consumption) and so on. "Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of the profoundly important phenomena they represent," according to the artist.

, 10 am-6 pm, July 30-Sep 11. The Other Gallery, Building 9, 50 Moganshan Road. 021-3353-2273

Beijing

World of flamenco

Cambio de Tercio shows a choreographic world that comes from within the souls of the dancers, and their creators, Rojas and Rodrguez.

The show consists of 10 scenes that use the figure of the dancer as a material that is transformed and dressed for a variety of pieces and movements, changes in style - giving the stage a vibrant power.

7:30 pm, Aug 13 and 14. Opera House, National Centre for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district. 010-6655-0000

(China Daily 07/24/2011 page15)