One day in February 2001, a worker accidentally unearthed some ancient relics while digging at a construction site in the western suburbs of Jinsha Village.

More than 3,000 pieces of jade, gold, ivory and porcelain were excavated. One of the most precious items is a piece of round gold foil with a sun in its center shedding rays and four vivid flying phoenixes in four directions.

According to archaeologists, the relics date back to the turn of the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, around the 11th century BC.

Some 3,000 years later, San Bao, the well-known Mongolian composer, was amazed and inspired by the relics when he visited Jinsha in the outskirts of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu last April.

He turned his inspiration into a musical named after the relics site which plays at the Third Beijing International Drama Festival at the Poly Theater from today to Sunday.

San Bao made his trip to the ruins at the invitation of Ye Dan, president of Chengdu Perform & Art Group Co Ltd. Ye had a Broadway show in mind to run at the newly-opened Jinsha International Theater in Chengdu. He put several story ideas in front of San Bao.

But as soon as the composer saw the relics, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.

"The relics and the ruins of the ancient town took my breath away. They're really unbelievable," the composer said, with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of excitement about the relics, before his show's Beijing premiere.

"I believe something special must have happened here in this 5-square-kilometre area three millennia ago. As I walked around ruins, it seemed that every piece of gold or jade piece was telling a story by singing and murmuring," he said.

Right after the visit, San Bao encouraged his friend, lyricist Guan Shan, to visit Jinsha. They teamed up and with passion in equal measures wove a love story which spans space and time.

Inspired by the gold foil and its phoenixes, the four-act musical tells the story of a girl called Jin who is turned into a phoenix and Sha, a young archaeologist who is working at the Jinsha relics.

The romance between Jin and Sha catapults them across space and time from the ancient kingdom of 3,000 years ago to the 21st century.

Sha remains his archaeologist self throughout the show while Jin is a phoenix-turned-girl in Act One, a mulberry-leaf-plucking girl in the second act, a court-musician in Act Three and a vague image in the final act.

At the beginning of the tale, Sha meets Jin with the help of a goddess. The second his eyes cross hers he falls in love but loses her in the following scenes.

The process of Sha searching for Jin is the same process humans go through when looking for their roots, memory and love, the lyricist Guan put it.

San Bao composed 25 songs for the musical and most of them feature a catchy tune.

"The musical is a popular form of entertainment, so I try to write songs pleasant to the ear. So when people leave the theater after the show they can remember the tunes," said San Bao.

He pointed out that he does not limit the music to the folk styles of Sichuan, even though the show will set up shop at Chengdu's Jinsha International Theater.

"It's a show for audiences across China and the world. I would like to share the touching story and the advanced civilization created by ancient Chinese people with all audiences," he said.

After watching the rehearsal in Chengdu, pop music producer Song Xiaoming said the musical score to a large extent reflects San Bao's personal style.

"I believe that some of the songs will become hits after the show tours around the country," said Song.

Beijing-based critic Dai Fang and Shen Lin, a professor from the Central Academy of Drama share the view that San Bao maintains a coherent musical style throughout the show.

"He does not simply throw more than 20 songs together but arranges them well and each part fits and pushes the plot," said Shen.

Backing San Bao, who will be directing for the first time, is an experienced crew including choreographers Zhu Yonglong and Wei Qiang, the set designer Zhang Hui, lighting guru Xing Xin, multi-media expert Wang Peng and costume designer Wen Ge.

"The Jinsha ruins gave us much fuel for the imagination. They provided an open space and time to create some magic theater," said Zhang Hui, "so the show will be an amazing theater experience besides the melodic tunes and original choreography."

The veteran set designer said the audience will feel like they are taking a legendary tour across space and time, featuring mysterious sacrificial rites, splendid royal courts, bloody battlefields with shining spears and armored horses, romantic moonlit forests for the lovers and the true-to-life archaeological site unearthed by workers.

The multi-media department produces wind, snow, rain and fog, as well as moonlit lake waves and fire.

There are currently two casts for the musical. The first includes Li Jinzhe as Sha and Yao Beina as Jin while the second stars Zhang Bo as Sha and Tan Weiwei as Jin.

The popular singer Sha Baoliang will play the role of the young archaeologist Sha on the second night in Beijing.

Sha Baoliang's star is shining bright at the moment, helped in part by songs written by San Bao.

And San Bao revealed that it was Sha who recorded demos of the show's songs.

"I have worked with Sha Baoliang on some records and I know all about his voice and sense. He was playing the role of Sha in my mind when I composed the musical," said San Bao.

After the three shows in Beijing, "Jinsha" will return to the Chengdu Jinsha International Theater for daily performances.

"My very first idea was to let tourists visit the Jinsha ruins during the day and then watch the musical at night," said Ye Dan.

The experienced Chengdu-based performing arts manager has been preparing for the show for quite some time. He expects to recoup the 16 million yuan (US$1.9 million) investment in three years.

(China Daily April 8, 2005)