Diplomatic calligraphy
A winding path through thick trees leads to a clearing with a villa. It is an unusual scene in the middle of a modern metropolis. Calligrapher and educator Zhang Xuguang, 59, considers his 2,000-square-meter studio hidden beside a busy road in the north of Beijing a wonderland of inner tranquility and beauty - at least before the surrounding area is overtaken by real estate developers.
The studio, Northern Lanting, is named after Lanting Xu (Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion), one of the greatest masterpieces in Chinese art history created by 4th-century calligrapher Wang Xizhi.
Zhang, also the deputy secretary-in-chief of the China Artists Association, is busily preparing for his next visit to New York City to participate in the United Nations Chinese Language Day events, one of an annual series of activities to highlight the historical and cultural importance of each of the six official languages of the UN.