Chinese musical inspired by ecological transformation in Liaoning

The green transformation of sandy land in Zhangwu county of Northeast China's Liaoning province has been turned into a Chinese musical, titled A Place Where Flowers Bloom, by Liaoning Song and Dance Ensemble, which is having its first round of performances until Jan 24 at Liaoning Grand Theater.

The creative team, including director Chen Wei, composer Liu Tong and scriptwriter, lyricist Ni Nan, spent two years working on the Chinese musical. They made several trips to Zhangwu county, where they learned real stories about people fighting desertification in the early 1950s, and the desert in many places has been transformed into forests and fertile fields after 70 years of effort.

The Chinese musical follows Zhu Deshang, who worked with his colleagues fighting against desertification through scientific studies. The folk music and dance elements of Liaoning, such as errenzhuan (a type of song-and-dance duet), and yangge dance (a type of Chinese folk dance), have been featured in the musical.