The fifth Asian Arts Festival raised its curtains Monday in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, with a performance of A Flower Girl, a classic opera from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The opera, performed by the DPRK's national arts troupe, which includes 185 well-known performers, has been staged in more than 40 countries.
The movie, A Flower Girl, was shown in China in the 1970s and gained popularity. The heroines' tragic life story became a widely-screened tearjerker and its theme song spread. Even today, a large number of middle-aged Chinese still remember the movie.
The festival, jointly sponsored by China's Ministry of Culture and Hangzhou municipal government, will close on November 10. It has attracted troupes from 16 Asian countries including the DPRK, Japan, India, Thailand, Iran and Mongolia.
(People?s Daily October 15, 2002)
