Lavish Staging of Chinese Culture

The great thing about the Beijing Night Show, the most breathtaking stage spectacular ever seen in the Chinese capital, is that it is constantly innovative － witness the latest "new look", or more correctly new sound, and a resultant faster tempo by the galaxy of brilliantly costumed, highly trained 65 dancers and other performers.

"We never draw the curtain on change", said managing director Si Haili, a shrewd ideas man in his own right and who is surrounded by the same tight-knit team of other creative talents that first staged the show in the autumn of 2000. Notable among them is production-group head Chen Weiya, who could well write a textbook on the art of the visually possible.

The Beijing Night Show is fast approaching its 1,000th presentation. So far, more than 150,000 people have seen it, including countless foreigners and leading political, diplomatic and business personalities.

"People keep coming back because they know the show will always have something new to offer", said Si. "Many patrons, foreigners and Chinese alike, have seen it more than 50 times. Even so, we began to suspect that the Chinese traditional dancing in the show was a bit slow for foreign patrons and younger local people."

"That's why we have modernized the routines and increased the tempo, and were told it works very well. Of course, the essential Chinese-ness of the music has not been lost. Audiences see folk and ethnic dance as well as the classical and modern."  

The 90-minute show is unique in condensing more than 2,000 years of Chinese history through vivid "tableaux" which, in seeming ad-hoc yet seamless style, reflect richer aspects of the nations evolving culture

Consensus among those who have seen the show is that it rates with any musical spectacular staged in the likes of London and New York. Si is the first to agree that an international tour would introduce the world to Chinese entertainment far removed from the norm of Peking Opera and acrobatic shows. "For now, however, the idea has too many imponderables," he said, "not least the huge investment that would be required. But who knows? One day it could become reality."

A further big plus at Beijing Night Cultural City, luxurious home of the Beijing Night Show, is that paying customers can enjoy some great food before, during or after the entertainment. But more on this, and other aspects of this remarkable show, in the April issue of Beijing This Month.

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Beijing Night Show

1 Dayabao Hutong, Dongcheng District

Open: Mon-Sat, 6:30pm

Admission: 400, 320, 240, 180 yuan

Set menus: 180, 120, 80 yuan

Private dining rooms (court, royal or high-rank banquets): 600, 400, 200 yuan