At first glance, little appears to connect the 300 works on display at Fuzhou Painting Academy's new exhibition. But the works have one intriguing thing in common: All of them were created by retired government officials from the Fujian provincial capital.

The collection of paintings and calligraphy works mainly depict the great changes and accomplishments Fuzhou has made over the past five years.

The exhibition, which opened on Sept 28, is designed to tie in with the upcoming 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a huge political event that will begin in Beijing on Oct 18.

The National Congress is held only once every five years, and cities all over the country are holding a huge range of activities to promote it.

Fuzhou residents tour around the painting and calligraphy exhibition currently underway in Fuzhou Painting Academy in South China's Fujian province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]