Taiwan actor Winston Zhao, star of Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet, is set to play Dr Sun Yat-sen for the fifth time in 1911, an epic on the 1911 or Xinhai Revolution that ended the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), China's last feudal empire.

Jackie Chan, playing in his 100th feature film, takes on the role of Huang Xing, a legendary general.

The 24th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), which will open on Oct 22 and last nine days, has announced that 1911 will be the opening film, while Paul W.S. Anderson's The Three Musketeers will be the official opening film. This is the first time, since the 10th TIFF in 1997, that two films have been selected as opening films.

The film will premiere on the Chinese mainland on Sept 23.

Emmy award-winner to direct Chinese musical

Gale Edwards, an Emmy award-winner, will make her directorial debut in China with an original Chinese musical, Haitang Show, that will be shown at the Wanda Theater, Haitang Bay, Sanya, Hainan province, on Sept 16.

Set in Haitang Bay, Haitang Show is a love story that will bring modern technical artistry to Chinese audiences.

Calligraphy expo coming to Wuhai city

The second International Calligraphy Expo, to be held in Wuhai of Inner Mongolia autonomous region from Sept 3 - 5, will present classic calligraphy works of Chinese masters and artists from more than 20 countries, besides exhibitions, competitions, meetings and performances.

One of the exhibitions will be on wen fang si bao, or the "four treasures of study" - inkbrush, inkstick, paper and inkstone.

Wuhai, designated City of Calligraphy by the China Painting and Calligraphy Association in 2008, hosts calligraphy competitions every year.

Traffic report host among radio anchor winners

Two veterans, Wang Jiayi, host of a traffic report show, and Wu Zhoutong, host of a music show, are among 36 of the more than 200 best-loved hosts of Radio Beijing China (RBC), chosen by audience voting.

In April, RBC, a popular radio network in the capital, launched the fifth survey of its most-loved hosts and received more than 1.4 million votes via mails, text messages, phone calls and online clicks.

At the award ceremony on Aug 13, the network also kicked off a charity campaign to establish free canteens for children of Malan Primary School in Hebei province.

Tibet-focused art contest invites entries

Beauty of Tibet, an art competition, is inviting works that showcase the preservation of culture, people's livelihoods and social development in Tibet over the past six decades.

The event is co-organized by China Tibet Online (www.tibet.cn) and Shanghai Overseas Chinese Foundation.

All entries will be on display in Beijing and Shanghai in October and November. The prize-winning ones will go under the hammer with the proceeds going to the promotion of education and culture in Tibet.

Li Yundi to debut new album Red Piano

Chinese pianist Li Yundi will present the world debut of his new album Red Piano on Sept 16, at the City of Dreams, an integrated entertainment resort in Macao.

The concert will be part of the anniversary show of The House of Dancing Water, a water-based show in the purpose-built Dancing Water Theater of the City of Dreams. Since its opening in September 2010, 340 shows of The House of Dancing Water have been held, drawing more than 600,000 spectators from all over the world.