French impressed by Chinese theater

PERNES-LES-FONTAINES, France — The Chinese Tour in France's Most Beautiful Villages, an event designed to boost Chinese-French cultural exchanges, was launched Tuesday in Pernesles-Fontaines, a town in southern France.

Six performances — including the hand-puppet theater play Notre-Dame de Paris, dance Tea Harvesting and Dacheng theater play Cymbal Offering — were presented by 20 performers from Fujian province in East China.

"My favorite was Tea Harvesting. It was so elegant. The performers made us dream for an hour, and letting me feel like being somewhere else," says Mireille, one of the nearly 200 spectators.

Marina, who particularly enjoyed the play Cymbal Offering, says everything was impressive as the performances were so different from what she had seen in France.

The event, part of the celebrations marking the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, was co-organized by the China Opera Research Society and Fujian Vocational College of Art, in association with one of France's most beautiful villages.

The initiative brings a selection of traditional Chinese theater pieces that have been passed down for hundreds of years and remain vibrant in villages across Fujian to residents in Pernes-les-Fontaines, Lourmarin, Gordes, and Avignon, all renowned for their stunning landscapes and rich cultural heritage.

Xinhua