Intl students try their hand at Qinqiang Opera

An experience tour for international students was held at the Yisu Grand Theater – located in Xi'an, capital city of Northwest China's Shaanxi province – on April 28.

The Yisu Art Troupe, the oldest opera group still performing in China, has staged Qinqiang Opera since being established in 1912.

During the activity, 16 international students from South Korea, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, France, Argentina and Venezuela learned about Qinqiang Opera.

The performers of Yisu Grand Theater first performed an excerpt from the opera Hanging Paintings – a wonderful rendition that won warm applause from the students.

With the encouragement of Hui Minli, president of the theater, they changed into costume and followed the gestures of the professional performers.

Kim Daeok from South Korea, an international student at Xi'an International Studies University, said that he has been in Xi'an for about a year. He was very interested in Chinese history and traditional culture when in Korea, so he came to Xi'an to study Chinese.

The international students also visited the Yisu Grand Theater Cultural District, an important window and a new calling card for Xi'an to carry forwards the art of Qinqiang Opera and display the charm of the city.

They showed great interest in the scenes of Xi'an in the 1980s and 1990s displayed in the district.

The activity was also broadcast live at home and abroad, sharing the wonderful scenes with overseas students in more than 10 countries – including Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Germany – allowing them to get to know more about Xi'an's history and culture and feel the charm of Qinqiang Opera.