Artists from the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre of China perform Legend of White Snake during the Helsinki Festival 2015 at the Alexander Theatre. [Photo/Xinhua]

'The Focus China' - 2015 China the Main Guest of Honor in Helsinki Festival

In the August of 2015, these two countries - located far away and once seemingly totally strange to each other, came together to hold an art festival in Helsinki. The Helsinki Festival launched a Focus China project, during which 20 programs from China were presented from August 14 to August 31, and more than 400 actors participated in the event, offering different performances or cultural activities almost every day during the well-known Helsinki Festival.

The Helsinki Festival, established in 1968, is an important art festival in Europe, also the biggest in Northern Europe. Held in middle and late August, it aims to promote art to citizens. It attracts about 200, 000 audience members every year. Under joint endeavors of China Ministry of Culture and Embassy in Finland, China participated in the 48th Helsinki Festival as the main guest of honor. This is the first time in the 40 years' history of Helsinki Festival to have one third of its programs coming from a particular country and this is also the biggest cultural program ever held by China in Finland.