A banquet in memory of old friends

For people living in a hutong, especially the elderly folk, they go for a morning stroll, shop for food and casually greet their neighbors. Such details of the daily lives of hutong residents are also portrayed in the drama.

"We want to bring out the authentic Beijing lifestyle in the dance drama," Liu adds.

Graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy as one of the top classical dancers in 2003, Liu won several national awards and appeared at national galas as a solo dancer. At the height of her dancing career, Liu severely injured her vertebrae during a rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The accident left her paralyzed below the waist, and she had to bid farewell to the stage and adjust to life in a wheelchair. However, this did not stop her from continuing to dance or trying to push the boundaries of the art.

After withdrawing from the limelight, Liu established the Liu Yan Arts Special Fund in 2010 to help students living in poverty, orphans and migrant workers' children through arts education. She is also devoted to dance movement therapy as a professor at the Beijing Dance Academy.