Shanghai Citizens Art Festival has 1,000 events this year

For teenagers, summer is a synonym for playing games and watching TV, but for parents, summer is a battle to keep their children from becoming addicts.

This summer, the ongoing Shanghai Citizens Art Festival provides a variety of cultural events for local families in hopes of enriching the summer vacation. The festival, in its second year, was launched in March and will offer more than 1,000 events throughout the year.

Shanghai Oriental Art Center has launched a series of performances that invite the whole family to come and enjoy.

On July 17, the Black Light Theater from Czech will present "Mysterious Magic World" at the art center in Pudong.

As one a famous performance style in the country, black light theater is presented on a dark stage, but the actors are dressed in fluorescent costumes to create dazzling illusions. Using upbeat music, humorous gestures, and cutting-edge technology, the show breaks the boundary of language and brings visual pleasure to viewers.

Meanwhile, ballet artists from Russia will refresh the audiences in Shanghai with a stunning ice ballet, "Swan Lake," from August 15 to 17.

The show will incorporate Chinese acrobatic elements into its plot and choreography. The performers will showcase their elegant dance moves while they are gliding on ice.

At the China Art Museum, children now have a chance to hang their paintings on the exhibition wall of the museum.

They can also experience the woodblock prints with their parents. The imprinting templates are created by students from local special education schools, some of whom have very sensitive art instincts.

Zhu Gang, an official from the museum, also recommends the "Family Treasure Hunt" summer program.

"Children can search for what they believe is the most valuable artwork and make an illustrated journal," he says. "We will have a citywide selection of the journal in September."

For animation fanatics, CCG Expo 2014, the biggest animation event of the year, will run from July 10 to 14 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center.

Japanese pop groups AKB48 and Root Five will join the event and give performances. Visitors are also able to buy manga-related products and attend cosplay performances.

For people interested in Shanghai's history, the Shanghai Museum is currently hosting an exhibition titled "Tracing History: Archeological Discoveries in Shanghai."

The exhibition runs until August 31. More than 500 locally excavated artifacts from different dynasties are featured in the exhibition. It will bring visitors back to ancient Chinese times and reveal little-known stories of the city's transformation.

• "Mysterious Magic World"

Date: July 17, 7:15pm

Tickets: 80-580 yuan

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center, 425 Dingxiang Rd, Pudong

• China Art Museum

Date: Tuesdays-Sundays, 10am-5pm

Venue: China Art Museum, 205 Shangnan Rd, Pudong

• CCG Expo 2014

Date: July 10-14, 9am-5pm

Venue: Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, 1099 Guozhan Rd, Pudong

Tickets: 40-120 yuan

• "Tracing History: Archeological Discoveries in Shanghai"

Date: Through August 31, 9am-5pm

Venue: Shanghai Museum, 201 People Ave