Wang Qijun (right),donated his oil painting "Cai Yuanpei" to Lin Jianhua, president of Peking University, in the opening ceremony of the 2016 Peking University International Culture Festival. [Photo provided to www.chinadaily.com.cn]

 Visitors to the second floor of the Peking University Hall are impressed with a solo painting exhibition depicting true-to-life Peking Opera characters and riverside towns in Jiangnan.

Jiangnan is a name that describes the areas south of the Yangtze River famous for beautiful scenery.

The exhibition by Wang Qijun, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and an overseas visiting scholar at Peking University, is a major event of the 2016 Peking University International Culture Festival which will be held till early next month.

With the theme "Vision: Voice and Action," the festival has drawn overseas students from 60 countries and regions who are studying at Peking University, festival organizers said.

In the opening ceremony held on Sunday, Wang donated his oil painting "Cai Yuanpei" to Lin Jianhua, president of Peking University.

In 1917, Cai (1868-1940) started working as Peking University's president – a position he would hold for a decade. His concept of free ideas is the cornerstone of education at the university.