Chinese traditional Shanshui paintings exhibited in Brussels

 "It's very fresh, very new and very contemporary," said Belgian visual artist Koen Vanmechelen at an exhibition of Chinese landscape paintings held here Monday in Brussels.

Huge Shanshui paintings, Chinese traditional painting style depicting scenery or natural landscapes, created by Chinese painter Xu Longsen are hanged at the atrium of the Justice Palace during the exhibition "On Top of A Thousand Mountains" in Brussels, capital of Belgium October 11, 2009.

Within the hall of the Palace of Justice, the landmark building in Brussels, 10 huge landscape paintings by Chinese artist Xu Longsen were hung down, with the height of eight paintings reaching 10.7 meters and the width 8.7 meters.

"Standing between the mountains, I feel I can hardly breathe. I was really surprised of what he did with the environment," Vanmechelen said, "It's really impressive."

Vanmechelen said that he can see from the works of the Chinese artist, "the individual behind the works is very respectful of nature" and "there is a link between the artist and the nature."

Charlotte Nievwenhuys, a master in fine art at the Edinburgh College of Art in Ireland, was also struck by the Chinese landscape paintings.