The Colors of Beijing Culture and Art Exhibition is currently being hosted in London's Olympia West Hall, which is a large exhibition center in the central and affluent London borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Duan Jianling, curator of the exhibition, told the Global Times that they wanted to promote Beijing culture to the outside world and are using the London Olympic Games as the opportunity to do this.

The exhibition has received a mixed reception in London. Some reviews are very positive. Praise has been heaped upon the exhibition as a feast of Chinese and Beijing culture.

People are impressed by what Beijing once was and is, and are pleased that an exhibition is providing insight into a city that they do not otherwise know much about and that is very far-removed from London literally and figuratively. 

This is particularly the case in the reproduction of a traditional hutong, which is a lane lined with stores that people can access.

"People can either stroll down the lane or sit beside a traditional door in the hutong chatting," Duan said. "You are allowed to cycle on a bike and tricycle, which are also exhibits on display."

There are of course some more cliché elements, which people are simply expecting to see and are always impressed by.

For example, there are nearly 100 oil paintings by renowned Chinese artists, such as Jin Shangyi and Wang Yidong.

"These collections are from the Beijing Performance and Arts Group and they are one of the more eye-catching parts of the exhibition," said Duan.

However, other people are expressing less enthusiastic viewpoints. In fact, many people either do not know that it is happening or are more concentrated on what the current host city is like, rather than on the previous host city.

Rob Welham, a freelance photographer in London, said he had heard nothing about the exhibition and does not think the exhibition will capture the hearts of Londoners.

"From what I gather from speaking to Londoners, few know much about Beijing," he said. "But most people would just Google 'Beijing' if they wanted to know anything about the city. I myself do that with most things."

Keith Macadam, a British man who has visited Beijing, said he has actually heard about the exhibition. Yet he still has no intention to visit.

"For people like me who have actually been to Beijing and seen the real deal, I would not want to visit a fake version in London," he said.

"However, for those who haven't been to Beijing before, they might want to go if they are interested in the city," he noted.

Gao Wei, director of the Beijing Society of History and Geography, went to the exhibition, but was also not very complimentary.

The atmosphere of the Beijing hutong was not really recreated in this artificial setting, according to Gao. "By copying hutong at such a distance, you cannot really transfer the true meaning of them to outsiders."

Gao also pointed out that the Olympic Games should not be used as a tool for promoting regional culture.

"The Olympic spirit is about globalization and should not be narrowly defined or used as a platform for promoting regional culture or spirit," he said.

"Four years have passed since Beijing hosted the Olympic Games and people are only bringing Beijing up right now to make money out of it," Gao noted.