Peng Liyuan, spouses of Central Asian leaders visit historic theater

XI'AN -- Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Friday morning invited the first ladies of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to visit the historic Yisushe Theater in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The guests were Aigul Japarova, wife of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and Ziroatkhon Mirziyoyeva, wife of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Japarov and Mirziyoyev were in Xi'an for the China-Central Asia Summit, which concluded on Friday.

Peng first took her guests to a Qinqiang opera art museum in the Yisushe Theater cultural block, where they viewed exquisite items related to the folk opera.

They stopped in front of a piece of mural work, looking closely at how local musicians performed together with their peers from the Western Regions back in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). They were briefed on the popularity of Qinqiang in China.

Peng and her guests also had a try at making shadow puppets at an exhibition hall and talked with veteran artists of the folk art.

At the Yisushe Theater, they watched a classical Qinqiang performance.

China stands ready to strengthen cultural exchanges and cooperation with Central Asian countries and promote mutual understanding and friendship among peoples, Peng said.

Japarova and Mirziyoyeva said they felt the Silk Road had connected the cultures of Central Asia and China. They expected both sides to deepen people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning.