Chongqing—The hit Chinese dance drama Wing Chun returns to Chongqing this week, with two performances at the Chongqing Grand Theatre on Oct 16 and 17 as part of the recommended program for the 2026 Fourth International Culture and Arts Festival.

Two performers face off in a choreographed Wing Chun fight scene. Directed and choreographed by Han Zhen and Zhou Liya, the production combines Chinese martial arts with dance. (Photo: Chongqing Grand Theatre)

Ahead of the run, the company held a campus meet-and-greet at Chongqing University on Wednesday evening, filling the multi-function hall in the university's main teaching building on its Shapingba A campus. Four lead performers — Chen Xianzhe (Ip Man), Feng Haoran (Dachun), Zeng Bosheng (Mantis Boxing master) and Yin Zixing (Tai Chi master) — shared behind-the-scenes stories, staged martial arts and dance excerpts, and fielded questions from students and media, with the session livestreamed online.

Running 132 minutes with a 15-minute intermission, the production brings two national intangible cultural heritage items onto a single stage: Wing Chun boxing and xiangyunsha, the gambiered Canton silk of south China's Lingnan region. Cast members recalled the enthusiastic, forthright audiences they met on the troupe's 2023 Chongqing visit, and the city's distinctive street-life energy.

Asked what makes the show resonate, Chen described it as "a story about chasing the light — Ip Man on stage pursues the light of his martial art, while the filmmakers off stage each pursue the ideal that lights their own hearts."

The performers gave a live demonstration. (Photo: Chongqing Grande Theatre)

Students tried basic Wing Chun movements on site. A member of the university's street dance crew said the seemingly simple tan sau and bong sau blocks "reveal how much precision lies in every inch of force," adding that balancing martial power with the grace of dance is the hardest part to master — and that she plans to see the full production.

The audience raised eager questions. (Photo: Chongqing Grande Theatre)

On reconciling martial authenticity with stage beauty, the performers described the show's approach as "explaining martial arts through dance": keeping each style's internal logic and spirit while amplifying its visual and emotional reach, so audiences with no martial arts background can feel its strength and dignity. Keeping that heritage alive, they said, matters most.

The event closed with a group photograph of cast and students. Rooted in the Wing Chun creed of using martial arts to protect the weak and uphold benevolence, the encounter turned a stage work into a living conversation between tradition and youth.