Staff at the Lu Xun museum are hard at work preparing an exhibition on the life and work of James Joyce, which opens on June 16 and is part of the Irish Festival in China.
James who? It was a tough question for two university students about to listen to a concert of Irish and Chinese music that was also part of the festival. 'The only Irishman I know is [footballer] Roy Keane,' said Wang Liguo, a history graduate. His girlfriend was also stumped. 'Is he a poet? You should ask someone in the literature faculty. For me, Ireland means River Dance,' she said.
The festival - with 26 performances by 13 artists and groups, two exhibitions and a season of films - kicked off in Shanghai and Beijing last month, and continues in both cities this month. It is the boldest attempt by Dublin to introduce its culture to the Chinese. Ireland only opened a consulate in Shanghai in 2000.
For the public, the best-known Irish are members of the nation's football team, whom millions cheered on in the 2002 World Cup. Next comes the River Dance troupe, which performed in the Great Hall of the People in October and has featured on state television. The group danced again in Beijing on May 9. Its performances have greatly increased sales of Irish music.
Irish consul-general Geoffrey Keating said he hoped the festival would introduce Irish culture to the city's public and, more importantly, lead to ongoing cultural exchanges between arts organisations. Ireland will host a Chinese Festival of Arts and Culture in the autumn.
Ireland has attracted an increasing number of Chinese students - 30,000 at present, about half the total number of Chinese in the country. Dublin is likely to begin issuing tourist visas to Chinese later this year.