'The White Haired Girl': 70 years on

Opera "White-Haired Girl" is performed in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province on Nov 23, 2015. The opera, first staged in 1945, has been one of the country's revolution-era classics for 70 years. [Photo/Xinhua]

Professor Peng Liyuan, who used to win the "Plum Blossom Award", China's highest theatrical award, for playing the heroine "Xi'er" in the opera, took time off her busy schedule to look over the play and provided valuable advice for its modification. She also offered lessons to leading actors and actresses in the opera, and gave demonstrations for the rehearsal of the play.

Other senior artists such as He Jingzhi and Qiao Peijuan also provided suggestions during the whole process.

Apart from gaining support from senior artists, China's Ministry of Culture, which takes the helm of the reproduction, organized a field trip for the cast and crew to a village in north China's Hebei Province, so as to have them get a real taste of the country life and better understand the hardships the characters endured several decades ago.