THERE is an increasing fascination with all things Chinese in the West and this exhibition is a declaration of all the usual traditional cultural images associated with the Middle Kingdom.

It is also shows how the Liverpool based artist Xia Lu – one of the five – sees her adopted home, as portrayed in a series of engaging water colours that focus on such subjects as the Albert Dock and the Anglican Cathedral.

These are intriguing in that they incorporate techniques adapted from Chinese and Western traditions of art and she uses a combination of Chinese inks and special rice papers as her vehicle which gives the images the ethereal quality usually associated with her homeland’s paintings.

The exhibition – in the wonderful Egg Café in Newington (pictured) - is part of the Chinese community’s New Year celebrations but also to mark Liverpool’s Capital of Culture reign.

Many of the works have come direct from Beijing, where Xia Lu has contemporary artist friends.

The fifty odd works on display certainly cover a wide range of topics: from the well known cherry blossom and peony flower representations to pictures of wild creatures and scenic views.

It is rather surprising – and perhaps a cultural clash - to gaze upon a tranquil scene from rural China and then to switch to Xia Lu’s interesting observations of the Sefton Park Palm House or a Welsh church.

Perhaps this just shows how we have become a global village.