A performing arts tour is traveling around the Western world in order to present three groundbreaking performances mixed with Chinese and Western elements.

Chinese actors perform Peking opera based on the story of Shakespeare' s tragedy Hamlet at the Theatre Mogador in Paris, France on Feb. 11, 2008.

The tour was orchestrated by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film & TV, and sponsored by the Shanghai International Cultural Communication Association and Eastern Shanghai International Culture Film & Television Group. The Shanghai Eastern Charm and Arts Culture Corp produced the tour.

One 83-member performing arts group has already toured Toronto, Canada and New York, United States on February 5, and 8-9, delivering the grand dance opera: A Dream of Red Mansions, adapted from the classic Chinese novel.

On February 11, 14, and 16, a 47-member troupe is heading to France and Germany to take a modern Peking opera version of the English classical play Hamlet, directed by famous Chinese opera director Shi Yukun, on stage.

From February 8 - April 8, another 80-member troupe will tour several cities including Stuttgart, Hamburg, Munich and Dortmund in Germany, Basel and Neuchatel in Switzerland, and Vienna in Austria. The artists will present a special Swan Lake ballet using Chinese acrobatics.

The three routes of the tour will promote Chinese culture, the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. So far the tour has received very positive feedback due to the brave, modern interpretations of these old classics that have also broken down artistic barriers.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui February 14, 2008)