Chinese tenors to perform at Great Hall of the People

The Three Chinese Tenors concert, at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Oct 21, will present three of the nation's most acclaimed tenors - Dai Yuqiang, Wei Song and Warren Mok.

It is being held to mark the 10th anniversary of the concert of the three world-famous tenors - Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carrerass - at the Forbidden City in support of Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics.

The Chinese tenors will perform classic Western opera arias and songs such as Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep) and Santa Lucia, as well as Chinese songs such as In a Faraway Place, My Motherland and That Is Me.

The concert will also kick off their world tour.

Chongqing festival highlights Asian art forms

More than 100 art troupes, involving some 3,000 artists from China and other Asian countries, are participating in the ongoing 12th Asia Arts Festival in Southwest China's Chongqing.

Founded by the Ministry of Culture in 1998, the festival is dedicated to showcasing Asia's diverse art forms, and has been held in different cities across China, including Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, Changchun in Jilin province, Zhengzhou in Henan province, and Ordos in Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The 12th Asia Arts Festival will also include an ASEAN Culture Week and two forums - the Asia Culture Forum and Asia Theater Workers' Summit.

It is being presented alongside the third Culture and Arts Festival of Chongqing, and will end on Oct 20.

Tang Dan co-writes film script with German director

German film director and screenwriter Wolfgang Petersen is working with Chinese director Tang Dan to create a China-Germany romantic comedy, titled I Phone You.

The script that Petersen, who directed Air Force One and Troy, co-writes with Tang, deals with the relationship between a Chinese girl and a young German.

Mainland actress Jiang Yiyan and German actor Florian Lukas, star of Goodbye, Lenin! lead the cast.

Tang directs the film, which will hit theaters in China on Oct 14.

TV docu channels to extend telecast time

CCTV-9, the documentary channel of China Central Television, is extending its telecast time from 10 to 12 hours.

A fresh batch of excellent Chinese documentaries, including New Film Legend and The West Lake, will be shown on its "Fantastic Display" section, while a host of outstanding international non-fictional programs, including Discovery channel's When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions, will be presented in the channel's "Diversified Globe" section.

Other programs include selected works from its "Vibrant China" project.

Li Bingbing to play 'leftover woman' in I Do

Mainland actress Li Bingbing, star of Wayne Wang's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, is the object of admiration for two men in her new film, I Do.

Li plays a shengnu, or "leftover woman", a term that refers to women who remain single after 30 in China. She has to choose between the two gentlemen, one rich and the other poor, played by Sun Honglei and Duan Yihong, respectively.

The film will premiere on Valentine's Day.

Sequel to hit crime thriller in the works

China may soon have its own detective story franchise, say director Zhang Fanfan and producer Gao Jun.

The two will shoot a sequel to Lost in Panic Room, entitled Lost in Panic Cruise. The small budget thriller made with 4 million yuan ($650,000), grossed 28 million yuan in 2010.

Taiwan actor Alec Su continues his portrayal of detective Liu Feiyun, while actresses Ni Hongjie and Zhou Weitong join the cast.

The film will be released on Oct 27.