Shanxi’s large-scale drama to play in Beijing

By Dong Jirong ( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2012-10-15

The large-scale drama The Beginning of Spring, created by the Shanxi Drama Theater, will be performed at the Beijing People’s Liberation Army Opera House on Oct 16 and 17. It is a part of the 2012 National Outstanding Drama Performance organized by the Ministry of Culture as a tribute to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

The Beginning of Spring gave a homecoming performance at the Culture and Art Center of Yuci district, Jinzhong, Shanxi province on Oct 10.

The drama is set in Youyu county, Shanxi province, a place located in the natural wind outlet of the Maowusu Desert in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Yu Xiaolan, the protagonist, leads the locals to plant trees in this severe environment and transforms her hometown into “the most livable city” awarded by the UN.

The drama tells the story of a group of people who plant trees in a sand-swept region for roughly 30 years. Facing a severe environment and financial allure from outside, the group finally turns the area into a green oasis. The story is set in the 1980s in Youyu county in Shuozhou city, Shanxi province. The heroine Xiaoyu, a girl from South China, comes to the village in Youyu county to marry her lover Tiedan, a young villager. In order to make their hometown livable, the couple decides to plant trees for three decades. Working with villagers in the area, the group realizes their dream when the sandy region is transformed into a lush grassland with blue skies.