Chinese artists perform on stage in Prague, Czech Republic, April 24, 2019. The tea-picking opera, performed by artists from Nanchang County of east China's Jiangxi Province, won applause among audience Wednesday in Prague, capital of Czech Republic. (Xinhua/Dana Kesnerova)
PRAGUE, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The tea-picking opera, performed by artists from Nanchang County of southern China's Jiangxi Province, won applause among audience Wednesday in Prague, capital of Czech Republic.
"Chinese tea is very popular in Prague. I like Chinese tea very much and have it everyday, but it's the first time I watched a performance originated from tea-picking," said Marian Kovac.
As vice president of Czech-China Association for Economic Cooperation, Kovac has been to China many times. "Though I feel I know China a lot, I had never heard about the opera before. It's fascinating," he said.
The tea-picking opera originally derived from the tea-growing regions in Jiangxi Province where the tea pickers would sing lengthy songs to each other whilst undertaking the monotonous task of tea-picking.
These folk songs were gradually adopted by performing troupes of singers and eventually became known as Tea picking operas.
"Opera is a common language between different cultures and a strong bridge linking the people of the globe, "said Wang Zhonghua, an official from Nanchang County.
He said the performance is meaningful under the Belt and Road Initiative, as cultural exchange is an important part of the initiative. Tea picking opera has been listed the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Jiangxi Province. "The best way to protect it is to let more people know it, domestically and internationally," he said.
At today's stage, besides traditional tea-picking opera, artists also performed other Chinese traditional arts and folksongs, like Peking Operas and Sichuan opera "Changing faces".
"We can feel the passion of the audience, they really enjoyed it," said Li Rujiang, Chairman of the Czech-China economic, trade and culture promotion association, who helped organize the event.
After the Prague tour, the troupe will also perform in Germany and the Netherlands in the next days.
