ChinaDaily[980125-8]

[Chinese News]

China Daily

98 / 01 / 25 /

***************************************************************************
1. New Year gala as Chinese as jiaozi
2. What's On (Page 6, Date: 01/24/98)
***************************************************************************

New Year gala as Chinese as jiaozi
FOLLOWING "Dreams Come True" (Jiafang Yifang), the first
Happy-New-Year movie ever made on the Chinese mainland, which has
brought in record box-office profits of about 10 million yuan
(US$1.2 million) since its premiere in late December, TV serials
and variety shows to celebrate New Year have been trying to
capture TV viewers.
Can the annual gala performance of China Central Television (CCTV)
on the eve of Spring Festival still win its usual viewing
audience? Will it break out with something new and refreshing to
add to its format, which has been little changed since its
inception back in 1984?
Held in a new 2,000-square-metre, 4-storey-high new hall, which
has just been completed and is twice as large as the old one, the
four and half hour live show has enough space and modern equipment
to create a much more lively and imaginative show.
"We have tried to put something new and attractive as well as
something that represents our country's character in the show,"
said Meng Xin, its chief-director.
The comedy skit, "A Stamp," has been praised highly by those who
have seen it for "expressing the common hope of Chinese people on
both sides of the Taiwan Straits."
The skit tells the story of a Taiwanese who comes to the mainland
to find a stamp issued a long time ago which has a special meaning
to him and which he has been trying to get hold of for several
decades.
With the help of some people, including an American, he finally
gets the stamp, which he could have had decades earlier if mail
service across the Straits had existed.
"I see profound connotation in this skit," Meng said. "And it
naturally leads the audience into subsequent items in the show
which feature the reunion of the Chinese nation."
The skit and the following performances -- a Taiwanese soprano
singing "I Love You, China" and three pop singers from the
mainland, Taiwan and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
singing the song "Great China" -- bring the gala show to its
climax.
The CCTV Spring Festival gala involves more than 1,000 performers
from across China and also some sports stars.
Wang Tao and Deng Yaping, two Chinese table tennis world
champions, join in song with three singers.
In her 70s, Zhao Lirong, a famous actress, also puts her best
unbound foot forward. She plays a Chinese kungfu instructor in a
skit, "Young Chinese Kungfu Group."
Dancer Yang Liping's performance of "The Plum Flowers," which
symbolize constancy and perseverance in Chinese culture, brought
tears to the eyes of Chen Jun, a director of the gala show, as he
watched her.
"Her dancing is truly world class," Chen said. "It stands for the
soul of Chinese nation."
Although CCTV has done its best, the directors of the show
acknowledge that they may not be able to hold the audience.
"The CCTV gala show has lost many viewers with the blossoming of
other kinds of entertainment shows in recent years," said Ni Ping,
the hostess of this year's gala, as well as of the previous eight
shows.
"I think this trend symbolizes progress," she said. "Rarely will
you find a show like this anywhere in the world that has held its
audience continuously for 15 years."
According to CCTV's survey, the 1996 Spring Festival variety show
drew 33.8 per cent of the 852 million possible viewers.
Regardless of reduction in audience size, the Spring Festival show
shall be held year after year, Ni said. "Because it is already 'a
required course' on the Spring Festival Eve menu, as much a part
of the celebrations as our delicious jiaozi."
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 01/24/98_
_Author: Wang Ying_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

***************************************************************************

What's On (Page 6, Date: 01/24/98)
EXHIBITIONS
Paintings show -- The China National Art Museum is hosting an
exhibition of Wang Qizhi's portrait paintings.
Wang, 68, is the son of master sketcher Wang Shikuo. He also
learned painting from master painters such as Xu Beihong, Li Keran
and Jiang Zhaohe.
Wang is well-known for painting tigers, flowers and birds. After
graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, he has
specialized in painting portraits of leaders. One of the portraits
of Chairman Mao hung on Tian'anmen Rostrum was drawn by Wang. On
display is also a large portrait of Deng Xiaoping he drawn
specially for the return of Hong Kong to the motherland.
Time: 9 am-5 pm, until January 25
Place: 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6401-2252
Ancient handicrafts -- Beijing Art Museum, situated in the ancient
Wanshou Temple, reopened its Exhibition of Handicrafts from the
Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) on November 28. The exhibition
not only retains the best items of the old exhibition, but also
includes more than 100 newly selected treasures from the
exhibition hall collection.
The exhibition is divided into six parts: jade ware, wooden and
bamboo carvings, rhinoceros horn, glassware, enamel, and
lacquerware.
The treasures display a good mixture of palace art, literati art
and folk art of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Time: 8.30 am-5 pm, daily
Place: Wanshou Temple, Suzhoujie, Haidian District
Tel: 6841-3380
Oil paintings -- Wanfung Art Gallery is holding an oil painting
exhibition "Winter Scenes of Old Beijing."
On display are more than 20 oil works by three middle-aged,
Beijing-born artists, who have captured scenes of old hutongs,
time-worn gates and life in quadrangles with a true-to-life
effect.
Time: 9:30 am-6 pm, until January 27
Place: Wanfung Art Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6512-7338
Gifts on display -- More than 400 gifts received by top Chinese
officials since the foundation of New China in 1949 are on display
at the National Museum of Chinese Revolutionary History.
The collection contains a quarter of the gifts received from
governments, senior leaders, non-governmental organizations and
individuals of more than 150 countries. They include gold and
silverware, jade and stone carvings, chinaware, paintings and
handicrafts.
Time: 8.30 am-5 pm, daily
Place: National Museum of Chinese Revolutionary History, east side
of Tian'anmen Square
Tel: 6526-3355 ext 2119
EVENTS
Temple fair -- The 13th Spring Festival Cultural Temple Fair of
the Temple of Earth (Ditan Park) will be held from January 26 to
February 2.
This year's temple fair pays more attention to folk customs and
combines the ancient and modern aspects of the capital culture.
The temple fair at the Temple of Earth will present an "Old
Beijingers Folk Customs Exhibition," which combines culture, folk
customs and tradition, and can further people's understanding of
the history of Beijing.
The food street this year features famous Chinese snacks and
foreign-style foods.
Time: January 26 to February 2
Place: Ditan Park, Andingmenwai Dajie, Dongcheng District
Fayuan Monastery -- A stone's throw from a mosque in a
predominantly Muslim neighbourhood is a Buddhist temple built
nearly seven centuries ago.
Fayuan Monastery, near Niujie Street in southwest Beijing's Xuanwu
District, is of particular interest to tourists and scholars
because it houses some of the rarest Buddhist antiquities in
China. Among them are 100,000 rare texts and a pair of pedestals
dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
It is visited by 10,000 pilgrims and tourists annually. Many are
from Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar and Japan, where Buddhism
is actively practised. Others are from the United States, Britain,
France and Germany.
Time: 9 am-4 pm, daily
Place: Fayuan Monastery, 7 Fayuansi Qianjie, Xuanwu District
Tel: 6353-4171.
Theme park fair -- The Shijinshan Amusement Park, dubbed "Chinese
Disneyland," will put forward the fourth Shijinshan Spring Temple
Fair.
This year's temple fair uses the tiger as a theme. A 6-metre-high
cartoon tiger stands in front of the gate to greet visitors. Four
thousand little cartoon tigers dot the park. Acrobatics and animal
taming, animal performances will be an eye-opener. Tigers, lions
and gorillas will perform.
The snack street will offer a variety of foods. Dozens of
recreation programmes will be on show, including film city, which
has a round screen, and the "Surprise House."
Time: January 27 to February 3
Place: Shijinshan Amusement Park, near the Bajiao Subway Station
Tel: 6887-4060
Daguanyuan fair -- The third Daguanyuan (Grand View Garden) Red
Mansion Temple Fair opens on January 27.
There will be 16 scenic spots and 18 activities. "The 12 Beautiful
Girls on the Red Mansion" will be at the park. They, together with
Baoyu and Liu Laolao, will go together with tourists to watch
rooster fighting, bird taming, or watch opera show, drink tea,
throw darts and shoot arrows. Tourists can get on stage and
perform if they want.
There will be acrobatic troupes, Beijing opera and other local
opera performances.
The snack street offers Beijing foods and introduces South China
tastes. There will also be tiger souvenirs.
Place: Grand View Garden, 12 Nancaiyuan, Xuanwu District
Time: January 27 to February 1.
Tel: 6354-4993
Jinhai Lake lantern show -- Pinggu County will hold a new spring
lantern exhibition at Jinhai Lake.
Pinggu County Jinhai Lake Travelling Corporation invested 500,000
yuan (US$60,240) to order 14 large scale lantern groups and nearly
1,000 small palace lanterns from Zibo, a city in Shandong Province
renowned for its long festive lantern making history. The
exhibition will be placed in the 1,500-metre-long corridor along
the lake dam.
Scenes like "The Cow Herd and the Girl Weaver" and "Eight
Immortals Crossing the Sea" depict a fairy land. Scenes like "Liu
Laolao Visiting Daguanyuan" and "The Story of the Top of the Wall"
drag visitors back to the real world.
Time: January 24 to February 12
To get there: 4 pm every day take special tourism bus 918 at
Donzhimeng to Jinhai Lake
CONCERTS
Instrumental pieces -- The China Song and Dance Ensemble will give
a string concert of famous Chinese instrumental pieces including
"The Moon Mirrored in the Pool," "Birds Singing in the Mountain,"
"Lovely Night," and "The Autumn Moon in the Han Palace."
Time: 2 pm, January 25
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
Tel: 6605-5812.
Tan batons Aussies -- The Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) will
debut its China tour under the baton of Chinese conductor Tan
Lihua early next month.
Established 50 years ago and touted as Australia's most widely
travelled symphony orchestra, the AYO has collaborated with
leading symphony orchestras around the world.
Tan Lihua, fresh from his success at the 1998 New Year Concert in
the Great Hall of the People, will conduct the performance. He is
the first Chinese conductor to lead a foreign orchestra's tour in
China.
Tan will also conduct the AYO in a concert extravaganza in Sydney
to celebrate Australia's National Day on January 26.
The Beijing concert will feature Australian composer Koehne's
"Powerhouse -- Rhumba for Orchestra," Prokofiev's "Symphony No.5
in B flat, Op.100" and Chinese composer Li Huanzhi's "Overture for
Chinese Spring Festival."
Time: 7:15 pm, February 2-3
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhua Dajie, Xicheng District
Tel: 6523-3644.
Making overtures -- The Symphony Orchestra of the Central Opera
and Ballet Theatre will present a concert of world music hits
including "Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila" (Glinka), "Overture to
the Marriage of Figaro" (Mozart), "Overture to the Barber of
Seville" (Rossini), "Overture to the White-Haired Girl," "Overture
to Die Fledermaus" (Johann Strauss), "Overture to Light Cavalry"
(Franz von Suppe).
Gao Weichun will conduct.
Time: 7:30 pm, January 25
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
Orchestra classics -- The China Radio National Orchestra will
present a spring concert, performing Chinese folk classics
including "The Happy Family," "Spring Comes to Yihe," "Spring in
South China," "Spring in the Snow Mountain," "Spring Rain," "The
Train Comes to the Dong Nationality Village," "The Happy Year,"
"Spring Night on a Moonlit River," "Dance of the Yao Nationality"
and "Blooming Flowers and Full Moon."
Time: 7:30 pm, January 27.
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
Folk song concert -- The Chorus of the China National Symphony
Orchestra will present a concert of Wang Luobin and West China
folk songs including "Fragrant Oleaster Flowers," "Ala Mukhan,"
"In a Place Far from Here," "Girls from Daban Town," "Youth Dance"
and "In the Silver Moonlight."
Time: 7:30 pm, January 30
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
Music in memory -- The Symphony Orchestra of the Central Opera and
Ballet Theatre will present a "Music in Memory" concert. The
pieces include the overture to the cultural revolution opera "The
White-Haired Girl," overture from Georges Bizet's "Carmen,"
Schubert's "Ave Maria" and the overture from Giuseppe Verdi's "La
Traviata."
Gao Weichun will conduct.
Time: 2 pm, January 31
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
Voice of Volga -- The Chorus of China National Symphony Orchestra
will present a concert of famous ex-USSR songs including "Song of
Harvest," "Katyusha," "Quiet Fields," "Red Plum Flowers Bloom" and
"Volga Boatmen."
Wu Lingfen will conduct.
Time: 7:30 pm, February 5.
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District
ACROBATICS
Thrilling acrobatics -- The China Acrobatic Troupe is juggling,
cycling and tumbling every night at two separate venues.
The 46-year-old troupe, one of the best in the country, has toured
more than 60 countries and won many international competition
awards.
Time: 7:15 pm, daily
Place: Chaoyang Theatre, 36 Dongsanhuan Beilu, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6507-2421
Time: 7:15 pm, daily
Place: Beijing Universe Theatre (inside Dongcheng Children's
Palace), 10 Dongzhimen Nandajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6502-3984
Tianqiao acrobatics --Acrobatics watchers now have a chance to
appreciate the time-honoured Tianqiao acrobatics, which have been
revived and performed by the Beijing Acrobatics Troupe every night
at the newly refurbished Wansheng Theatre.
Time: 7 pm, nightly.
Place: Wansheng Theatre, 95 Tianqiao Shichang, Xuanwu District,
Beijing.
Tel: 6303-7449, 6702-2329.
STAGE
Beijing story -- Beijing People's Art Theatre's production
"Antiques," an August hit in the capital, is to be restaged. With
its Beijing flavour and strong cast, the play reproduces scenes
from the Beijing of 70 years ago.
Revolving around anecdotes of an antique shop in Liulichang, one
of the capital's most famous shopping streets with a 200-year-old
history, the drama brings on stage a group of characters with a
variety of occupations. A quadripot, an ancient Chinese cooking
vessel, creates a mystery.
Time: 7 pm, January 24-26, February 3-7.
Place: Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6525-0996, 6524-9847
Swan Lake -- The Central Opera and Ballet Theatre will perform
"Swan Lake" before the Spring Festival.
During its festival season which started at the end of last year,
the theatre troupe has performed "Sleeping Beauty," "The Red
Detachment of Women," "Don Quixote" and a selection of ballet
highlights. All programmes have been highly praised and performed
in front of sell-out audiences.
Time: 7:15 pm, 24-26
Place: Beizhan Theatre, 135 Xizhimenwai Dajie, Xicheng District
Tel: 6405-5512, 6407-3532
Sound of Music -- The American musical "The Sound of Music" has
been brought to life on stage by Cheng Fangyuan, a celebrated
singer with the Oriental Song and Dance Ensemble, her husband Wang
Gang and their seven "children."
The beautiful songs such as "Do-Re-Mi," "The Lonely Goatherd,"
"How Can Love Survive" and "Edelweiss," have touched the hearts of
thousands of Beijingers.
Time: 7:15 pm, January 24-26
Place: Poly Plaza International Theatre, 14 Dongzhimen Nandajie,
Dongcheng District
Tel: 6495-1005, 6608-4160
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 01/24/98_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

***************************************************************************