Outside the west courtyard of the former site of the Duan Qirui government (the former headquarters of Duan Qirui early in the 20th century), one of the largest live performance venues in Beijing's Dongcheng district that can hold up to 500 people, nearly 1,000 youngsters from different nations, mostly of Chinese origin, were waiting patiently last Friday.

They were there for the Ninth Mars en Folie (March Madness) Music Tour, and a shared passion for French.

That evening's chanson concert, organized by the Alliances Francaises network and the embassies of France, Canada, Switzerland and Belgium, is one of the more than 30 French concerts being staged in 14 cities around China through March 25. The finale will be at Shanghai's Mao Livehouse on Friday night.