Discover the best things to do in Beijing with our weekly roundup of art and exhibitions, music, performances and trending activities around town. To recommend an upcoming event or activity, please contact li-ping@chinadaily.com.cn.

Paintings of Xu Beihong

A painting of Xu Beihong on show at the National Art Museum in Beijing. [Photo/namoc.org]

Over 100 paintings by modern China's painting master Xu Beihong are on show at the National Art Museum, including his oil and ink wash works.

Xu is skilled at portraying birds and animals. He decided to integrate Western techniques with traditional Chinese art, which exerted a big influence on contemporary Chinese artists.

Learn more here.

If you go:
9:00 am - 5:30 pm, through Mar 4 (closed on Mondays). 1 Wusi Avenue, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6403-4951.
Ticket: Free

Anais Martane performed in Beijing earlier this month. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Memories of her youth

An ongoing photograph exhibition by French artist Anais Martane showcases the lives of a pioneering group of Beijing-based folk singer-songwriters.

She is most widely known as the wife of Chinese actor Liu Ye, but, beyond that, she is a photographer.

The photos, taken from 2002 to 2004, are on display at her solo exhibition Warm-Up at Beijing's Three Shadow +3 Gallery.

Learn more here.

If you go:
10 am - 6 pm, through Feb 27 (closed on Mondays), 155A, Caochangdi Art Zone, Chaoyang district. 010-6431-9063.
Ticket: Free

[Photo/bjconcerthall.cn]

Musical feast for Japanese anime lovers

Music Fans Classical orchestra will provide a feast for Japanese anime and music lovers in Beijing this weekend, bringing together masterpieces by celebrated Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi, including melodies in director Hayao Miyazak's animation Castle in the Sky and The Rain in director Takeshi Kitano's film Kikujiro.

If you go:
7:30 pm, Jan 28. Beijing Concert Hall, 1 North Xinhua Street (near North Chang'an Street), Xicheng district. 010-6605-7006.
Ticket: 100-580 yuan

A scene from La La Land. [Photo/Mtime]

Classical melodies from Oscar-winning movies

A 100-minute concert staged by Beijing's Festival Chamber Orchestra will take audience members on a journey through the memories of Oscar-winning movies, including melodies in movies such as The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean, Cinema Paradiso, The Lord of the Rings and La La Land.

If you go:
7:30 pm, Jan 27. Beijing Concert Hall, 1 North Xinhua Street (near North Chang'an Street), Xicheng district. 010-6605-7006.
Ticket: 80 - 380 yuan

Paintings by Ye Qianyu on display at the Central Academy of Fine Arts' museum in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

New show sees artist sketching out his own path

Painters normally make sketches as preliminary studies for the completion of a major artwork. But Ye Qianyu (1907-95), an important artist and educator in the field of 20th-century Chinese art, said sketching helped him to build his imagination, and he also regarded it as "an independent form of art".

Is It Simply Sketching, an exhibition currently running at the Central Academy of Fine Arts' museum in Beijing, displays some 180 sketches made by the artist.

Learn more here.

If you go:
Through Feb 25. 3/F, Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts , 8 Huajiadi Nanjie (South Street), Chaoyang district.
Ticket: Free

Red Fishermen, Oleg Mikhailov. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Artists from 50 nations showcase prints in Beijing

Printmaking, an important part of traditional Chinese art since the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), reached a peak in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

Now, an International Print Invitation Exhibition in Beijing features around 50 artists from countries involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Get a sneak peek here.

If you go:
10 am - 6 pm, through March 8. Today Art Museum, Building 4, Apple Community, 32 Baiziwan Road, Chaoyang district. 010-5876-0600.

A painting on display. [Photo/namoc.org]

An exhibition entitled Blooming Flowers in Flourishing Age – Exhibition of Elaborate Bird-and-Flower Paintings kicked off at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing on Thursday.

More than 100 elaborate bird-and-flower paintings collected by the museum are on display in three parts, on the basis of the ages. The first part features bird-and-flower paintings from the Song, Ming, Yuan and Qing dynasties, while the second and third parts have representative works by modern and contemporary painters.

Learn more here.

If you go:
9 am - 5 pm, through March 4. National Museum of China, 16 East Chang'an Avenue, Dongcheng district. 010-6511-6188.
Ticket: Free