A Chinese watercolor painting exhibition kicked off Monday at the University of Leeds, showing the charm of traditional Chinese painting through paintings of Chinese diplomat Wang Ying and famous Russian-British physicist Professor Konstantin Novoselov.

Wang Ying is the educational consul of the Chinese Consulate-General in Manchester. As an active member of the Chinese National Association of Fine Arts, his paintings and calligraphy have been exhibited across the world.

From the landscape of England's Peak District and Lake District, to the cherry blossom of his English neighbor, a total of 38 paintings of Wang were on display at the exhibition, held by the Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds.

Konstantin Novoselov, professor of University of Manchester, who is a winner of Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for his groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene, is also an enthusiast of traditional Chinese painting, particularly bamboo paintings.

Nine ink paintings by Prof. Novoselov will be shown at the exhibition.

Prof. Novoselov fell in love with Chinese painting when he was a visiting scholar in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeast China, years ago.

"It's my hobby and I like doing this, like to learn new things, and Chinese art is very peculiar as well," he told Xinhua.

He said there is no big difference between traditional Chinese painting and western classic painting. He thought traditional Chinese paintings are close to impressionism in the western side. But the traditional Chinese painting is to paint what you feel, rather than what you see, he added.

"Chinese culture is huge, but it's very little exposed to the west, a huge range of Chinese artists are unknown to the west," he said, referring to the importance of Monday's exhibition.

Prof. Novoselov said for wider cooperation, China and Britain need to deepen mutual trust, but for cultural exchange, "I don't think there is much problem, we just simply need to educate people to appreciate it."

The exhibition, set to last till November, is part of the Culture Month held by the Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds, during which a series of events, including Kungfu, dance, Chinese tea ceremony, and fashion show will be held. Endit

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