Expats will be able to enjoy free cultural activities during the May Day holiday when all the public cultural venues in Shenzhen will be open to residents for free.

Beginning Saturday, an ID card or residence permit will allow permanent and temporary residents, including expatriates, to enjoy free admittance to city venues such as art galleries, libraries and museums. Tourists are not among the privileged, the municipal bureau of culture sources said.

More than 300 various cultural activities have been planned for Shenzheners during the holidays.

They include entertainment programs presented at communities, exhibitions and shows, commercial shows and free films.

Of those there will be more than 260 entertainment programs covering operas, short plays, songs and dances, folk cultural activities, photography shows and calligraphy and painting exhibitions.

Eleven professional fine arts shows will cover water-ink painting, oil painting, prints, traditional Chinese painting and sculpture. Almost 20 critically-acclaimed films will be screened free in some theaters.

Some 14,000 people are supposed to be involved in these activities and the number of audience is expected to reach 1 million.

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2004)