Source: CCTV.com

10-09-2007 15:49

Special Report:   National Day holiday

The week-long National Day Holiday is over. But for many, happy memories of time spent with friends and family are still fresh. Let's look back at how the festival was celebrated in the Chinese capital.

It was party time in the Valley of Happiness, an amusement park in the east of Beijing. Magicians from all over the world, including the U.S., Canada, Argentina and South Korea, gather to showcase their tricks and stunts. There were fifty performances a day during the holidays.

Also casting a spell on the Beijing audience were dancers from the China Central Ballet. For audiences the experience was instructive as well as entertaining. They were introduced to the fascinating story behind the dance form, to its birthplace, to its first practitioner and to the first ballet production ever staged in public. The history of Chinese ballet, was featured in the narrative.

The child dancers, though in training for only six months, were not shy about giving it their best.

Inside the 600 year-old royal granary in Central Beijing, entertainment ranged from purely Western, to quintessentially Chinese.

Visitors to the cafe bar-mini theatre were treated to a performance of the Kunqu Opera "Peony Pavilion". There were no curtains on the stage and no microphones for the performers. The intent was to re-create the ambience and atmosphere of the traditional Kunqu performance.

And for those who love tradition, one popular place was Beijing's Red Theatre, where the "Legend of Kung-fu" played throughout the holiday.