Thousands of people in the audience from all over the world wait for the debut of The Red Detachment of Women in the Senate Square in Helsinki. [Photo/Hexun.com]

On August 14, the Focus China project kicked off at the Helsinki Festival, the largest of its kind in the Nordic countries, with the debut of the ballet show the Red Detachment of Women.

In the Senate Square in Helsinki, about 5, 000 audiences from all over the world enjoyed the performance by China Central Ballet Troupe. Yang Zhijin, vice minister of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, Chen Wen, charge d'affaires ad interim of Chinese Embassy in Finland and Jussi Pajunen, Mayor of Helsinki, also watched the show.

In this large-scale ballet spectacular, a modest country girl finds herself on an unbelievable adventure. She manages to overcome her cruel landlord and become the leader of a company comprised of one hundred women.

According to Erik Söderblom, director of the Helsinki Festival, the Red Detachment of Women is a well-known brand in the international performance circle. "So it's quite natural for us to choose such a world-famous show as the opening performance of the Focus China project during the festival," he said.

Western audiences were deeply attracted to this original Chinese ballet performance. Juho, a young Finnish writer, watched the show with his Chinese girlfriend. He told Chinese journalists that it was his first time seeing a Chinese ballet.

"It is fantastic to express the thoughts and feelings of a revolutionary in the form of ballet. What's more, we enjoy such an oriental show in a square with traditional Western architecture. That's marvelous for me," he added.

Erdem, a Turkish man travelling in Finland with his wife, told Chinese media that they were attracted by the rhythm of the music, and kept on their legs to watch the rest of the show.

"We didn't watch it from the very beginning, so we didn't quite understand the plot, but we can feel the imposing manner of the show. It's a pity for me that there are too many people in the audience here in the square, it's too crowded. That's the only downside," he said.