By Xinyi Li, EDITOR
The Return to the Three Gorges, a large-scale live-action performance on the river, debuted on December 15. It was a large live poetry and landscape show co-directed by Fengjie County and the team of Zhang Yimou.
The Live-Action Performance Illuminated Fengjie
This one-hour show covered 10 poems from 6 poets, including Li Bai, Du Fu, Liu Yuxi and Su Shi. Meanwhile, this poem-based performance visually presented the poets’ creation background and poetry mood to the viewers. Centered on Chinese poetry, it focused on landscapes, with the concept of eco-environment protection. Audiences appreciated the magnificent natural landscape of the Three Gorges and the unique customs of Sichuan and Chongqing. Also, audiences experienced the profound cultural deposits of Fengjie County. Moreover, they also enjoyed the grand beauty of the poetic Three Gorges.
The performance regards 3 spots as the background, which are Baidicheng (White Emperor City), Qutang Gorge, and Kuimen Gate. Therefore, it presented the live-action performance on the river to the public. In addition, high-tech means also adopted the show, offered the viewers an on-site shocking choreography effect. Furthermore, the performance stage is 160.8 meters long and 54 meters wide and the seating area can accommodate 1,738 viewers.
High-tech means also adopted the show, offered the viewers an on-site shocking choreography effect
The Backdrop of the Living-Action Performance
The performance project launched in 2016, focused on the element of "water". Except for the location of Qutang Gorge, most of the performance was completed on the water. It gave the most respect to water.
The show gave the most respect to water
Moreover, it is the key parts of prosperous tourism for the Three Gorges. Return to the Three Gorges strives to become the competitive products along with the Yangtze River. According to the performance, there are 4 meanings of the word “return”. First of all, it will bring visitors who were there 20 years ago. Meanwhile, the poetry culture of great splendor returns to the place where poetries came from. Moreover, the director Zhang Yimou came back with his large live poetry and landscape show again. The last is that the gorgeous traditional culture with more than thousands of years should return to modern life.
The performance presented stories about poetries
How Important Fengjie County is in Chongqing
Fengjie County situates in the center of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region. It gained the name for honoring the demeanor of Zhuge Liang, a well-known chancellor of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period. He didn’t surrender when facing a crisis of life and death (Chapter VI of the Confucian Analects/VIII). It also boasts a variety of cultural tourism resources, including Baidicheng, Qutang Gorge, Kuimen Gate, and Xiaozhai Tiankeng. According to the record, there are 742 poets remained 4,464 poems in the history of Chinese poetry. This earns Fengjie County the title of “City of Poems” in China.
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Source: People's Daily, Xinhuanet