Zhang Yimou tries Peking Opera

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Zhang Yimou (Xinhua)

Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou's first Peking Opera is set to hit the stage in the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing during the upcoming National Day Holiday.

Zhang's Peking Opera, titled "You and Me", takes inspiration from a 2,700-year-old royal tale of Chinese history.

It tells the story of a king whose brother and mother trap him in a political conspiracy.

The opera displays the Chinese tradition of filial love.

Although Zhang Yimou was absent from the rehearsal, he has shared some insight into the show, "Performing itself has gone through a rapid development in the past few decades, with more and more sophisticated and innovate methods. But it has nothing to do with Peking Opera. Peking Opera is something pure. Its atheistic value lies in symbolization and conception. It just like, three or five paces can stand for the traveling around the world. Six or seven people can stand for an army. I hope to present the opera from such an atheistic perspective."

The opera stars all-star cast, such as renowned Peking Opera performers Shang Changrong, Chen Shaoyun, and Li Mingyan.

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