CRI听力:Cultural Development During the Past Decade

The Swahili-dubbed Chinese TV series "A Beautiful Daughter-In-Law Era" is now ready to air again in Tanzania.

The show was first broadcast at the end of last year to more than 100 million people in Tanzania and other east African countries.

Liu Dong, cultural counselor of the Chinese embassy in Tanzania, says the series was a huge success, and that's why it's been scheduled to air again during prime time.

"Now in Tanzania, Doudou, the name of the lead character, has become a synonym for Chinese daughters-in-law. Whenever Chinese girls are mentioned in a conversation, the local people call them "doudou." We have received very positive feedbacks from the local audience, and because of their strong request, the drama will be aired again on December 1st during prime time."

The 36-episode drama is a light comedy about a typical Chinese husband and wife in modern times.

Liu Dong says the show reflects the real lives of contemporary Chinese people and resonates with local audiences.

Besides the popular drama, other forms of Chinese productions and performing arts have also been well received in Tanzania.

Professor Hermas J.M. Mwausoko is the Director of Culture Development at the Ministry of Labour, Youth, Culture and Sports in Tanzania.

"We do have exchanges of cultural troops between Tanzania and China. Almost every year we have more or less two or three troops coming from China to Dar es Salaam to perform traditional dances and acrobatics. So, Chinese culture is a very common phenomenon here in Tanzania."

Among the Chinese art troops that frequent foreign countries, those that perform Kunqu opera have become increasing popular.

Kunqu opera is one of the oldest forms of opera in China, dating back to the 14th century. In 2001, UNESCO proclaimed Kunqu opera a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Communist Party of China National Congress delegate Yang Fengyi is director of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre. She says the past decade has seen a change in traditional Chinese troupes from having to take the initiative to perform abroad to receiving a constant number of invitations from foreign countries.

Yang also points out that now is a great time for Kunqu opera to develop.

"Kunqu opera is in its golden age now. I think we should take this opportunity and combine traditional Chinese opera with new technology, especially on the international stage. We should make our performances fuller and richer overseas."

Yang won the Florence International Women's Prize in 2006, becoming the first Asian woman to receive the honor since the award was established in 1991. This indicated that Yang's efforts to present Kunqu opera to the world had gained international recognition.

In trying to communicate with the world, China has in the last few years successfully hosted the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, and the 2010 Asia Games in Guangzhou, and signed cultural cooperation agreements with more than 100 countries.

For CRI, this is Ding Lulu.