For a piece of China head no further than Colchester this summer as the city celebrates a cultural twinning.

The Essex county town will mark its 20-year partnership with Jiangsu Province by staging arts events across the region between July 2008 and March 2009.

Among the performances already scheduled will be dancers, traditional puppetry, master crafts, music and the results of a 2007 photography exchange which saw local snapper Anthony Channer travel to Jiangsu to capture images of everyday life.

Colchester Castle Museum is also entering into the spirit of the festival with an exhibition of 2,000-year-old figurines on loan from China's Xuzhou Museum.

The 43 artefacts, which stand between one and two feet tall, represent soldiers, officials, dancers, musicians and cavalry horses all excavated from royal tombs in the last 25 years.

The display runs from July 19th until November 2nd and is open daily.