In Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a grand festival has opened to help the city greet the year of ox. Top artists from home and abroad are featured.

The opening ceremony last weekend was attended by local dignitaries including the Hong Kong SAR chief executive, Donald Tsang. Over a period of nearly a month, the festival will offer as many as 190 performances. Four of them will be open to the general public free of charge. Among all the shows, traditional Chinese operas figure prominently. A three-show series will be staged to feature all the top stars of Peking Opera. Also there will be performances of Xueju Opera and Guangdong Opera.

The festival also features western art forms including ballet and symphony concerts. The China Central Ballet will bring to Hong Kong stage its most recently produced show, the Peony Pavilion.

Foreign artists will also contribute. Four of the world best symphony orchestras are scheduled to perform, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

To benefit the general public, a number of the festival's shows will be staged in public places like shopping malls.

(CCTV February 10, 2009)