What's on

Returned treasure

The touring exhibition Hu Ying: New Age, Different Fate has arrived in the Shanhaiguan Museum of the Great Wall of China, in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province. It highlights years of efforts behind the successful return of Hu Ying (Tiger Vessel), a 3,000-year-old bronzeware once looted from its birthplace.

The archaic object, named after the tiger-shaped handle on its lid, was taken during the 1860 pillage of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. It resurfaced at a London auction decades later. The artifact was returned to China in 2018 through rounds of negotiations. It is now housed in the National Museum of China.

The exhibition, which has toured several cities, also features other bronze artifacts from the same period. Together, they showcase the workmanship of ancient China, shedding light on its social hierarchy and rituals. The display underscores the nation's dedication to recovering lost cultural treasures.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 1 Bowuguan Lu, Shanhaiguan district, Qinhuangdao, Hebei province. 0335-766-7777.

Ode to peace

Guernica remains one of Pablo Picasso's most iconic anti-war works. Now, another painting by the Spanish artist, also calling for peace, is drawing the attention of visitors to the National Art Museum of China. The work, titled Soldier with Bird, depicts an elderly soldier offering water to a white dove.

The painting is now on display at Ode to Peace, an exhibition running through to Aug 12, cohosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the national art museum.

It displays nearly 80 paintings, sculptures, prints and watercolors from the two institutions' collections. It also explores how artists from diverse eras and cultural backgrounds approach the universal theme of peace through different media and styles.

Also on view is the exhibition's namesake painting, Ode to Peace, a 4-meter-long Chinese ink work created in 1955 by renowned artists such as Qi Baishi, He Xiangning, and Yu Fei'an. Done in the traditional flower-and-bird style, it presents a vivid, idyllic scene bursting with blossoms, trees and birds.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.

Deeds of generosity

The family of renowned playwright Wu Zuguang and his wife, opera artist Xin Fengxia, donated the couple's former art collection to the China National Academy of Painting earlier this month. The donation includes classic Chinese paintings and calligraphic pieces by artists on good terms with the couple, such as Qi Baishi, as well as by the couple and their family members.

Selected pieces from the donation are now on display with other donated works from previous contributions made to the China National Academy of Painting over the past year. The exhibition runs until Aug 6 at the academy's Beijing gallery.

The donations also include six manhua, or cartoon-style paintings, of Feng Zikai, who celebrated the beauty of spring. The beloved prolific painter, also a virtuoso in calligraphy, literature and music, is famed for his depictions of everyday life in which he reveals the truth of life and human nature.

9-11:30 am, 1:30-4:30 pm, daily. 54 Xisanhuan Bei Lu, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-6841-2606.

China Daily