The wife of President Xi Jinping, Peng Liyuan, visited the Xiqu Centre of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) this afternoon (June 30) and chatted with young actors, members of a performance troupe and volunteers. She was accompanied by Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Ms Lu Xinning; Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs Ms Kinnie Wong; and the Executive Director, Performing Arts of the WKCD Authority, Mr Paul Tam.
      
     Peng first received a briefing by Mr Tam on the planning and latest developments of the WKCD as well as the work of the Xiqu Centre in the preservation and promotion of Cantonese opera and traditional Chinese theatre. With the support of the Central Government, Cantonese opera was successfully inscribed in 2009 onto the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a world Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) item. The HKSAR Government has been in collaboration with the community in the protection, transmission and promotion of different ICH items, including Cantonese opera.
      
     Peng watched the rehearsal of the Cantonese opera excerpts by the Tea House Rising Stars Troupe at the Tea House of the Xiqu Centre and the rehearsal of the Hong Kong Gaudeamus Dunhuang Ensemble at the studio. She also had candid chats with the actors and members of the performance troupe.
      
     Peng then visited the exhibition entitled "A Thousand Faces: Cantonese Opera Legend Yau Sing-po" and met with four young volunteers who were assigned to intern at the Palace Museum under the "Thematic Youth Internship Programmes to the Mainland" of the HKSAR Government. The volunteers shared with Peng their valuable internship experiences in the Mainland. Before concluding the visit, Peng presented a collection of traditional Chinese theatre libretti as a gift for the Xiqu Centre. The compilation of the collection was initiated by the late well-known literary historian Mr Zheng Zhenduo, and took several decades to complete. It has important historical and artistic value and represents a major achievement in safeguarding the national cultural heritage of traditional Chinese theatre.

Ends/Thursday, June 30, 2022
Issued at HKT 18:09

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