The first dance theater to spread awareness of the cultural heritage show, To Meet the Grand Canal, performed in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, on June 17 in honor of the third anniversary of the Chinese Grand Canal being accepted as a world heritage item. The performance opened a world tour of the show by the Hangzhou Song and Dance Theater.

Zhejiang is at the southern end of the Grand Canal and Ningbo, a coastal city in Zhejiang, is at the southernmost end of the estuary of the Marine Silk Road.

Many wonderful events happened there, and these stories and the different cultures involved will be shared with the rest of the world by performances of this work, according to the director of Hangzhou Song and Dance Theater.

Audience members spoke highly of the dance theater's performance. An audience member from Ukraine said, "It's great. I'm Ukrainian, and I hope you can tour my country so my friends and other Ukrainians can enjoy this show.”

The audience generally believed that, with a history of over 2,000 years, the Canal show will arouse foreigners' interest in Chinese culture.

The show, which took three years to develop, integrates action art and drama to depict the history of the Grand Canal and its cultural value by way of mixing tradition with the modern history and the future.

Invited by the government of Nice in France, the France-China Culture and Art Exchange Center and UNESCO, the dance theater will tour several countries, including France and UK.

Dancers perform To Meet The Grand Canal in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. [Photo/n.cztv.com ]