A beautiful exhibition of Chinese calligraphy and ink and wash paintings has been drawing Indians since it was inaugurated here in New Delhi on Wednesday, as a precursor to a series of cultural activities that will mark the 60th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China next year.

Around 30 Chinese artists, including Ding Guanjia, Song Shiming, Yang Jichuan, Lu Xianneng, Wang Shimin, Yu Shui, Le geye, Huang Wenqi, He Chanbo, Han Shuli, Ba Ma Zha Xi, Jia Qiuyu and Yang Zhu, are participating in the exhibition, to be on upto the end of the month in New Delhi.

"This kind of an exhibition will really go a great way to strengthen the cultural relaions between the two countries. More and more such people-to-people contacts will further the overall bilateral relations," Zhang Yan, Chinese Ambassador to India, said here.

"Such events are very important to encourage greater common participation of the people of the two countries and thus create harmony and a general feel good factor," Long Yuxiang, executive chairman of the China International Cultural and Communication Center, said at the exhibition.

It is for the first time that Chinese calligraphy has come to Delhi with 30 brush painters and their 60 creations.

Called "the exhibition of Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy in India", this week-long exhibit is being organized by China International Culture and Communication Center (CICCC) and 21st Century China India Center for Culture and Communication.

"The exhibition will see some of China's most celebrated artists such as septuagenarians Dint Guant Jiah and Lu Xian Neng as well as the new generation calligraphers," Dana Schuppert of 21st Century China India Center said.

"Our old artists have not ignored the contemporary trends while the young express their understanding of life in very non- traditional ways, like using a variety of colours," she said.

Born in 1963, one of the artists Song Shiming, once served as an artist for the People's Liberation Army (PLA). He was also the Vice President to China Academy of Calligraphy and Painting for Generals.

Song Shiming often spends a long time in the deep mountains where it is isolated from the outside world. Life is usually very difficult there. Nevertheless, he enjoys the beauty of the great nature. The enjoyment shows in his paintings.

People can detect how the nature differs with the change of seasons and the passing of time in Shiming's paintings. The grandeur and wilderness of the nature is well expressed in his works. His paintings can be called the representation of the harmony between the ideal and the reality, the tradiational arts and the modern ones.

Calligraphy became not only a source of pleasure and satisfaction but also a wonderful insight into the style, manner and machinery of the government in Qing dynasty China (1644-1912). In late imperial China, the art of calligraphy became the most esteemed of all the arts.

"A highly disciplined exercise, Chinese calligraphy requires immense concentration. The art of calligraphy in China is far more than the mere act of writing. It is an art of revelation, through meaning, interpretation, emotion, imagination and the sheer physical flourish of the brush and ink," Zhang Yan, Chinese Ambassador to India, further said.

An age-old form of art, it is also known as brush painting. "We are delighted to introduce Chinese traditions to India. The Indian response only encourages us to go further to hold more such exhibitions in the future," Long Yuxiang said at the occasion.