The 2025 Suzhou Jinji Lake China-France Culture and Art Week opened in SIP’s Ligongdi Cultural and Creative Block on Oct 17 and will last till Oct 26. The event integrates exhibitions, theme markets, performances and cultural experiences.

SIP’s Ligongdi Cultural and Creative Block and Paris’s Montmartre formally established a friendship in 2011 and, since 2022, have jointly organized the Suzhou Jinji Lake China-France Culture and Art Week in both Suzhou and Paris on a yearly basis. These events have fostered cultural, artistic, artisanal and commercial exchanges and cooperation between China and France.

This year’s event comprises 13 components including the Chinese and French Young Designers Invitational Exhibition, the exhibition in honor of Antoine de Saint Exupéry—author of The Little Prince, and the Chinese & French Food Week.

The Chinese and French Young Designers Invitational Exhibition that opened on the same day showcases over 70 works by young designers at top universities and colleges in China and France.

“Gaze”, the artistic installation jointly created by Frédéric Baron, co-designer of the Le mur des je t’aime (“Wall of Love”) in Montmartre, Fei Zhixiong, a Chinese calligrapher, and Zhang Dalu, a professor at the School of Art of Soochow University, was shown. It echoes the charm of both the Seine and Jinji Lake, presenting a poetic contemplation that bridges Eastern and Western civilizations.

The Chinese and French Food and Lifestyle Collection kicked off concurrently, boasting over 30 artisanal stalls and 10-plus French food vendors for the participants to savor the charm of Chinese and French aesthetics and food.

The Chinese & French Food Week features limited-edition coffees, creative cultural products and immersive online and offline culinary journeys.

On the evening of the opening day, a concert was staged at Suzhou Jinji Lake Concert Hall, where well-known French music works were performed.

October 17, 2025