A daughter's return

The new production of the opera is part of a series of programs launched by the NCPA to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Original Chinese operas, dance dramas, plays, ballets and symphonic concerts will be staged throughout the year, announced Zhao Tiechun, vice-president of the NCPA, in Beijing on April 28.

Chinese composer Zhang Qianyi, playwright Zhao Daming and director Wang Xiaoying will work together to create a new Chinese opera, The Song of Youth, adapted from a Chinese novel by writer Yang Mo (1914-95). The novel was previously adapted into a movie with the same title in 1959. The story revolves around young Chinese students led by the CPC and how they initiated patriotic movements during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

The NCPA will also restage operatic productions, such as The Long March, which premiered in July 2016 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Red Army's epic two-year military retreat across the country, while fighting against Kuomintang forces. Another will be A Village Teacher, which made its debut at the venue in 2009 and tells the story of a female teacher, Yang Caihong, who dedicates her life to education in a poverty-stricken mountainous region.