STORY: China sees robust growth in performing arts industry
DATELINE: June 22, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:01
LOCATION: BEIJING
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the performance
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZHOU DAN, Audience member
3. various of the performance
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese) Li BIAO, Conductor
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese) MR. ZHOU, Audience member
6. various of the performance

STORYLINE:

China's live-performance industry has picked up momentum in recent months, as the country emerged from the epidemic and entered a new phase of COVID-19 response with optimized measures.

In Shanghai, a music festival was held in a botanical garden in early June, after a hiatus of two years, featuring classical music performed by Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZHOU DAN, Audience member
"I'm from Yunnan Province. This is the first time I've been to Chenshan botanical garden, and the first time I've been to a music festival. It feels so nice. Great atmosphere. The music is very soft and feels so close to nature."

In Yongjia County of Zhejiang Province, a music festival lasted more than 40 days earlier this year, attracting tens of thousands of people.

In Tianmen Mountains of Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province, a concert was held in April at an altitude of more than 1,300 meters.

In Tianjin, a music festival kicked off in late May, and will last until July.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): LI BIAO, Conductor
"Music is not far from our lives. It's part of our lives. I believe this is also a major goal for this music festival, allowing more people to enter the concert hall, and enjoy music beyond their homes."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): MR. ZHOU, Audience member
"We are familiar with many of the music pieces performed here. But I'm still very excited to see the performance of Ms. Guan Mucun right here in this concert hall."

According to statistics from the China Association of Performing Arts, in the first quarter of this year, the number of commercial performances nationwide totaled 68,900, an increase of 95.42 percent year on year.

Their revenue totalled 4.98 billion yuan (about 696.5 million U.S. dollars), up 110.99 percent year on year. Concerts and music festivals sold more than 1.1 million tickets, making it the highest-grossing category.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)