ST. PETERSBURG -- The Chinese consul-general in St. Petersburg inaugurated an exhibition Tuesday of works by well-known Russian artist Igor Saltsev collected under the theme "My China."

During the opening ceremony, Ji Yanchi praised Saltsev's ability to capture the details of ordinary Chinese life and landscape, from laundry to roof tiles, and thanked him for his honest contribution to the ongoing dialogue between Russia and China.

The exhibition of around 30 paintings between 2000 and 2010 features southern Chinese landscapes and small-town scenes, most notably in Zhouzhuang, one of the most famous water towns in China's eastern Jiangsu province.

For his part, Saltsev has also expressed his deep respect for China's long history and the rich, unending subtlety of its charms.

The exhibition will open to the public at St. Petersburg's iconic Dostoyevsky Museum until the end of the month.