More theater and film lovers than ever before will be able to enjoy quality performances and screenings for free under a new program in Shanghai.

As part of the local government program, more than 200,000 people this year can buy cheap tickets and enjoy dramas and concerts at the Shanghai Grand Theater, the Shanghai Concert Hall and the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, doubling the number of last year's visits.

Meanwhile, about 60,000 films will be screened in rural areas for free, twice as many as last year.

The "Performance Season" and the "Art Class" held by the Shanghai Grand Theater will receive a new audience including teachers, workers and expatriates.

Previously only college students had access to discounted tickets to enjoy quality performances. Another similar program at the Shanghai Concert Hall will be televised this year to serve even more music lovers.

The "Oriental Citizen Concert" held at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center every second Saturday will give students the most preferential treatment - they can buy a ticket for just 15 yuan (US$2). Usually tickets are priced at 60 yuan.

Residents in rural areas will be the biggest beneficiaries of the free digital film program.

By the end of last year about 700 rural digital cinemas had been set up. By next year, all the city's 1,869 villages will have facilities, allowing residents to find a cinema within a 15-minute walk from their homes, according to Jiang Xiaowen, general manager of the Shanghai East Paradise Digital Cinema Circuit.

"Rural residents can watch the free digital films once a week," he said. "A Farmer Digital Film Festival will be held in the first half this year."

The city will also enhance the establishment of community culture center at neighborhoods and schools, where entertainment performances, free films and art lectures will be provided.

There are 100 centers and 600 village-level activity rooms throughout the city.

(Shanghai Daily January 3, 2008)