7 November 2018
On 1 November, the teachers and students of the performance delegation from Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA)’s College of Chinese Traditional Opera traveled more than 500 kilometers by bus from Osaka, and arrived in Oita, Japan after an 11-hour-journey.
On the evening of 2 November, the performance and exchange were held at the Iichiko Theatre of the Oita Comprehensive Cultural Center. The wonderful performance by the teachers and students' were warmly received by more than 600 audiences attending the event, and successfully wrapped up the performance tour in Japan.
On 3 November, the performance delegation traveled by bus for more than four hours to go from Oita to Fukuoka to catch the plane, and arrived in Seoul in the late afternoon on the same day commencing its three-day-visit in Republic of Korea (ROK) covering two cities.
On 4 November, the delegation spent nearly five hours traveling to Sehan University in the outskirts of Mokpo. On the morning of 5 November, despite fatigue, the performance delegation completed the preparatory work of stage set-up and sound testing. On the afternoon, the Chinese cultural festival on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the establishment of Confucius Institute at Sehan University and the performance in ROK by Shanghai Theatre Academy began. After playing and singing the national anthems of both countries, Lee Seung-hoon, President of Sehan University, Sun Xianyu, Chinese Consul General in Gwangju of ROK, and senior government officials and parliamentary representatives of Mokpo delivered speeches successively. The guests of honor expressed their heartfelt thanks to the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Han Ban) for sending the delegation of Shanghai Theatre Academy to conduct a performance tour in Korea on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the establishment of Confucius Institute at Sehan University. The Chinese and ROK teachers and students sang the song "Better Tomorrow" together, and the audiences went to the stage to take pictures with the STA teachers and students.
Students of Shanghai Theatre Academy and students of Sehan University singing "Better Tomorrow" together
On 6 November, the performance delegation took an early flight to Jeju Island. After arriving in the morning, the delegation put down the baggage and began to set up the stage. Before the performance in the afternoon, President of Cheju Halla University extended the welcome to the Chinese friends from afar. On behalf of STA, Hu Min, Deputy Party Secretary of STA, thanked the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) for the trust and thanked the Japanese and ROK universities for their warm hospitality and their assistance provided for the performance. Confucius Institute is an important platform for language and cultural exchanges between China and other countries in the world. Teachers and students of Shanghai Theatre Academy are willing to act as cultural envoys on the platform to promote cooperation and exchanges with universities in other countries. It is hoped that the excellent Chinese traditional culture demonstrated by the art of Chinese traditional opera will become a window for people to understand and love China. The ROK director and Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at Cheju Halla University co-hosted the performance. They guided the audiences on how to appreciate the Peking Opera, and provided questionnaires for the students who watched the performance on the spot to give their comments on the performance and share their feelings after participating in the activity. Li Peihong, Dean of the STA College of Chinese Traditional Opera, sang a selection of Cheng Yanqiu's famous work "The Lucky Purse". Feng Chuntai, Chinese Consul General of China in Jeju, said after the performance that the performance given by Shanghai Theatre Academy had enabled the people of Jeju to have a better understanding of Chinese culture. He hoped that more such activities would be carried out to promote exchanges between China and ROK.
Hu Min, Deputy Party Secretary of Shanghai Theatre Academy, presenting souvenir to President of Cheju Halla University
The performance tour in Japan and ROK this time covered six cities in two countries over a period of 12 days with six performances in total. The time was tight and the task was heavy. Positively responding to that with team spirit, the teachers and students of the performance delegation were of one heart and one mind with which they performed their own functions and worked cooperatively in due division of responsibilities. The teachers of the performance delegation set the example themselves and taught the students by both precept and example. They led the students to prepare carefully off the stage and perform carefully on the stage, and guided the students to understand the solid stage performance and how to tell Chinese stories well in international exchange through drawing a comparison with classroom teaching content. On 7 November, the teachers and students of the performance delegation returned to Shanghai from ROK upon successfully completion of the exchange performance tour.
Students of Shanghai Theatre Academy and students of ROK taking pictures together after performance
