4 great shows to catch at the 12th China Arts Festival
Photograph: courtesy Shanghai Majestic Theatre (Dunhuang Daughter)
The 12th China Art Festival has officially kicked off. Held once every three years, this is the first time the festival will be held in Shanghai. The two-week-long event will see 58 performances by renowned Chinese art troupes from across the country held across 34 venues in the city, including Dashijie and Zhongshan Park. To view the full lineup of performances and purchase tickets, extract the QR code below.
If the long list of programmes is too much to handle, we’ve rounded up four great shows that you should catch. Act fast though – tickets are already selling out.
Chasing Dreams
Photograph: courtesy Shanghai Majestic Theatre
Based on the vision of aircraft designer and engineer Tang Wei, this drama by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre reveals what goes on behind the scenes during the aircraft manufacturing process. By shedding light on some of the less glamorous professions in the aviation industry, like test pilots and aircraft manufacturers, the story shows the rise and fall of China’s aviation industry and the tremendous success its seen over the years.
📍Shanghai Majestic Theatre, 66 Jiangning Lu, near Fengxian Lu. Thu 23-Fri 24. 7.30-9.30pm. 60-380RMB.
The Railway to Tibet
Photograph: courtesy 247tickets
Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts will be presenting a dance drama based on the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway. Its dance tells the story of the workers who constructed the railway and of the Tibetans in the late 1970s. Revolving around themes of national unity, the military and the people, the story explores hope, love, life and death, and highlights the spirit of the times.
📍Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre, 159 Baiyun Lu, near Yumin Nan Lu. Fri 24-Sat 25. 7.30-9.30pm. 60RMB.
The Little Sisters of the Grassland Heroes
Photograph: courtesy Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre
A dance drama by the Inner Mongolia Academy of Fine Arts, this performance tells the true story of sisters Longmei and Yurong who spent a day in a blizzard in the 1960s trying to save their flock of sheep, but had to have limbs amputated because of frostbite. The heroism of the young sisters is presented through contemporary movement in the performance.
📍Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre, 159 Baiyun Lu, near Yumin Nan Lu. Fri 24-Sat 25. 7.30-9.30pm. 60-380RMB.
Dunhuang Daughter
Photograph: courtesy Shanghai Majestic Theatre
This Shanghai opera tells the story of Fan Jinshi, a woman who came to the Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Dunhuang, and vowed to spend the rest of her life protecting it. Despite the harsh living environment in the Gobi Desert and having to be apart from her husband and young child she never relented, and stayed for more than 50 years. There, she wrote many scholarly articles about the place and eventually became known as a ‘daughter of Dunhuang’.
📍Shanghai Majestic Theatre, 66 Jiangning Lu, near Fengxian Lu. Thu 23-Fri 24. 7.30-9.30pm. 60-380RMB.