Zhang Yimou, world-renowned Chinese film director, Saturday began
directing a folk musical, "Third Sister Liu (Liu Sanjie)," in an
outdoor scenic setting in Yangshuo County of Guilin City in south
China's
Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Zhang's idea, to perform a piece at a natural setting rather
than in a theater, was inspired by the well-known musical film,
"Third Sister Liu," featuring a legendary singer and the local
culture and customs of ethnic groups in Guangxi.
"The performance is expected to succeed, as we have such
beautiful scenery here," Zhang said in Yangshuo, one of the major
tourist attractions in China.
He said the performance is a major project for the development
of Yangshuo, which boasts 54 percent of the water area of
Lijiang,one of the country's most beautiful rivers.
The performance venue, on a riverbank surrounded by 12
mountains, boasts 2,000 seats, from which the audience can see for
two kilometers into the distance.?
During the one-hour performance, more than 600 actors, who are
local fishermen, will be dressed in different styles of Zhuang,
Miao and Yao ethnic group clothing, and will jointly sing folk
songs, popular both at home and overseas.
Mei Shuaiyuan, the performance's producer, said the scenery will
change as the real settings change with the natural seasons. He
pointed out that the performance will pay much attention to
environmental protection and offer portable toilets at the
venue.
According to Mei, the performance will be officially staged
every day from October 1 to 7, and will continue to be performed
every one or two days after that.
Mei said they have applied to be entered in the Guinness Book of
World Records for the bamboo buildings, which serve as the set, and
for the real mountain-river setting theater, both claimed to the
world's largest.
(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2003)
