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Singer's silver screen

Wu Mochou (left), who made a name in The Voice of China - the Chinese version of the Dutch TV singing contest - has her big screen debut in Better and Better. The movie is a comedy to be released on Lunar New Year's Day, which falls on Feb 10 this year. Wu appears with senior actors, such as Sandra Ng and Xu Jinglei, in the film directed by Zhang Yibai. Wu was one of the top four contestants in The Voice of China, last year's most popular TV show. She also sings the film's theme song.

Coloratura's first album

Soprano Wang Li with the Performing Arts Company of China's Air Force will release her premiere album, I Sing For You, China. Some of the songs are from the musical Song of the Second Spring, which features Wang as the heroine. The 30-year-old started to learn singing at a young age and was later trained at the China Conservatory of Music. In 2001, she took part in the New Voice competition in Germany and won the Best Coloratura Voice award.

Red reforms

Dozens of film and literature experts gathered at Beijing Normal University on Jan 16 for a seminar on the novel The Prelude to Red Army. It delves into the significance of the reforms led by the Communist Party of China from the 1920s to the 1930s through stories of an ordinary family in Jiangxi province. The novel's co-authors, Shao Wu and Huang Huilin, spent much time reading historical documents to vividly portray the characters. "We've put in a lot of effort," says Huang, who's dean of the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture, Beijing Normal University. "The book is about farmers and their problems in the old society. Remembering history is the best tribute to the martyrs. It's very educational for the younger generation."

Sichuan ancient art

Theatergoers enjoyed a pleasant surprise during their recent visit to the Jincheng Art Palace in Sichuan province's capital Chengdu, where students in ancient attire performed jinqianban, a form of folk music created in Sichuan some 300 years ago. Although it's popular, not many people know how to perform it today. Performers sing lively and humorous rhymes while striking bamboo sticks. The Chengdu Paotongshu Primary School students' show tells the story of a young scholar who could recite all the Chinese classics but didn't know how to cross a small ditch because the method wasn't found in any book. Their performance was part of the Second Sichuan Children's New Year Party. The party drew top-notch young performers from across Sichuan, who not only presented traditional art forms, such as jinqianban, but also Sichuan Opera's face-mask changing and ancient poetry recitals. The event was sponsored by the Sichuan provincial department of culture and the Jincheng Art Palace.

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