By: Ruijun Hu

China, a country with a long history of civilization and rich culture, and more recently the fastest economic growth rate, becomes the hottest topic at UK this year.

Students’ growing interests in learning about China’s history, language and art is the main reason why the College of Arts & Sciences chose to hold the “Year of China” program.

“Year of China” is bringing China to Kentucky and allowing UK students to get a closer look at China through films, art exhibitions and lectures by famous professors, said Keiko Tanaka, director of the Asia Center and a sociology professor at UK.

To launch the year’s events, which will include a film series, a lecture series, art exhibits and a play presented by the UK theatre department, “Year of China Open House” will take place Wednesday.

Students can enjoy food from UK Catering Chef Scott Kohn, as well as get free T-shirts and information about Year of China, Chinese culture and study abroad,  Tanaka said.

The film series will include movies, “Yellow Earth” (Oct. 18), “Morning Sun” (Oct. 25), “2 Million Minutes” (Nov. 1), “Last Train Home” (Nov. 8) and “Beijing or Bust” (Nov. 15), all starting at 5 p.m. and showing in White Hall Classroom Building, room 118.

“This film series covers a wide range of topics about China from history to education,” Tanaka said. “I’m expecting them to draw many students, faculty members and community members.”

There are also five lectures during the fall semester. Speakers include Eugene Wang from Harvard University (Oct. 13), Carma Hinton (Oct. 27), Julia Chang Bloch (Nov. 3) and Vanessa Fong (Nov. 29). The lectures will start at 5 p.m. in White Hall room 118.

Several art exhibitions on Chinese visual art are scheduled as part of the ArtsAsia program organized by the Asia Center and  sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, the College of Arts & Sciences and the Confucius Institute, Tanaka said.

The Culture Flux exhibition will be held throughout the fall semester from Sept. 16 to Nov. 11 at the Lexington Art League’s downtown gallery.

Chinese artist Zhang Fuquan’s photography exhibition will be held Sept. 28 through Oct. 17 in the President’s Room at the Singletary Center for the Arts.

Lastly, “Monkey King,” a play based on a popular Chinese tale, will run at the Guignol Theatre on campus from Oct. 6 through Oct. 8, and again on Oct. 14 and 15.

As part of both the College of A&S Year of China and ArtsAsia programs, Eugene Wang will give a keynote lecture, “Contested Ground: Visual Culture in China after 1989,” on Oct. 14 at 5 p.m.

A full schedule of events and more information about “Year of China” can be found at https://china.as.uky.edu.