Irish pop group

Westlife is a boy band from Ireland that was founded in 1998. Their albums such as Westlife, Coast to Coast and World of our Own, are hugely popular around the world, and songs such as My Love, You Raise Me Up and The Rose are all-time favorites. The group will tour China with its new album Gravity in September, and perform in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

8 pm, Sept 21. Shanghai Grand Stage, 1111 Caoxi Beilu, Shanghai. 021-6217-2426

8 pm, Sept 23. Guangzhou International Sports and Performance Center, 2666 Kaichuang Dadao, Guangzhou. 400-610-3721

7:30 pm, Sept 25. MasterCard Center (formerly the Wukesong Arena), 69 Fuxing Lu, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-8822-8118

Veteran retrospective

The Cafa Art Museum is holding Frozen Passion, a retrospective show for veteran oil painter and art educator Li Zongjin (1916-77).

Born to a scholar's family and trained in the early 1930s under the guidance of master painters such as Yan Wenliang, Li taught at Tsinghua University, Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Beijing Film Academy until 1975.

"Li was so diligent an artist that he was revising his signature work - Taking the Luding Bridge by Force even during his last days, in 1977," recalled Xu Bing, Li's student and vice-president of Central Academy of Fine Arts.

10 am-5 pm, until Sept 8. 8 Huajiadi Nanjie, Chaoyang district. 010-6477-1575

Shanghai

Drama of life

Modern drama Activated Carbon by playwright Yu Rongjun tells of a divorced couple, who decide to hide their separation from the ex-husband's father. The father is in Shanghai for medical treatment and to seek forgiveness from the girlfriend whom he left 30 years ago. This Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center performance premiered in 2006 and has won acclaim for being able to speak to two generations.

7:30 pm, Aug 23-Sept 4. Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 288 Anfu Lu. 021-6473-0123

SH Contemporary

The fifth installment of SH Contemporary will be held at the Shanghai Exhibition Center. Arguably the most dynamic fair of contemporary art in Shanghai, the event will present a comprehensive selection of top Chinese galleries and a choice of other Asian and Western galleries, under the new direction of Massimo Torrigiani. A preview is slated for Sept 7.

11 am-6 pm, Sept 8-10. Shanghai Exhibition Center, 1000 Yan'an Zhonglu. 021-3222-0381. www.shcontemporary.info

Lacquer art

Wang Tianliang, once a calligraphy and water-ink enthusiast, turned to lacquer art in the 1990s, with the aim of bringing traditional Chinese art to the notice of the modern world. Some of his most acclaimed creations are on display.

9 am-5 pm, until Aug 23. Shanghai Art Museum, 325 Nanjing Xilu. 021-6327-2829