BEIJING, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Over a thousand Chinese immersed themselves in an eye-catching display of one of Europe's most elegant sports at the start of the "Year of France in China", as French fencers crossed swords with their counterparts of China here on Sunday at Heaven Temple.
It's the first time that the Temple of Heaven, one of the symbols of the 13-million inhabitants Chinese capital, proud guardians of one of the world's most ancient civilizations, opened for a sport event.
In the very last act of Olympic champion Brice Guyart, the exhibition games between French and Chinese fencing elite, a key program of the opening series and the sole sporting one in the Year of France in China, ended up with a 2-1 victory of the eight French players in three games of the categories of epee, saber and foil.
The games, dubbed "Tian Tan, Salle D'Arme", almost caught the whole lot of the top fencers of France and China, with in the French side the Olympic foil champion in Athens, Guyart, women's epee world champion and Olympic silver medalist Laura Flessel Colovic, Olympic men's saber team winner Julien Pillet along with Fabrice Jeannet, a member of the Olympic men's epee team champions.
And China brought in Olympic silver medalists Wang Haibin, Tan Xue and Wang Lei.
Totally 179 programs for "French Culture Year", ranging from concerts to exhibitions and film festivals, will be staged during the nine months from October to July to show Chinese audiences a new and creative France.
President of the French fencing federation, Pierre Abric, said that the elite fencing games could introduce to the Chinese the essential part of the centuries-old and romantic French culture in sport.
"The exchanges and cooperation in the field of fencing between France and China have been there for 20 years, and we built up friendship through it," said Abric. "We've seen that the games of this kind greatly promoted the competing levels of both sides in the fencing sport, so we should definitely walk along with it."
To show different aspects of French society, the French Culture Year will also include film festivals, lectures and symposium on law, literature, architecture and technology.
The launch of the events coincides with the visit by French President Jacques Chirac, who met Chinese President Hu Jintao hereon Saturday for a wide-ranging summit, with the two overseeing a series of lucrative economic and trade deals.
