A gateway to Hong Kong in the US

A huge bamboo flower plaque combining one of Mao Zedong's most famous slogans with traditional Hong Kong craftsmanship has put the city at the centre of a symbolic culture clash between China and the United States.

But artist Danny Yung Ning-tsun, who created the plaque, says the Hong Kong government has missed a chance to demonstrate the city's ambitions as a cultural hub at a major international exhibition.

Yung, whose Tian Tian Xiang Shang Gateway is on show at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival - one of the world's largest showcases of living cultural heritage - that opens in Washington today, says Hong Kong has an important role to play on the international cultural stage.

Yung is the sole featured Hong Kong artist with his work, a 10-metre-tall, 33-metre-long and six-metre-deep bamboo flower plaque with the theme, "Day day up", derived from Mao's slogan "Good good study, day day up".

"The mere existence of Hong Kong [in an American cultural festival with a China focus] is already a statement," said Yung, 70, a founder and co-artistic director of experimental group Zuni Icosahedron.

But he lamented that while the Hong Kong government would host a reception for 400 guests, it was not doing more to demonstrate the city's cultural potential.