Artists from China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe perform at Beijing Exhibition Theater in Beijing, December 27, 2018.[Photo by Li Xuemin/chinadaily.com.cn]

More tunes were offered, including the nostalgic Pear Flowers Bloom Again, a paean to hometown and mother, the all-time classic hymn Amazing Grace, and the ebullient sing-along, We Are the World.

Blind pianist Jin Yuanhui played a solo, the C minor Fantaisie-Impromptu by Chopin. Music Along the Silk Road, as the name implies, is a fest for folk musical instruments. There was also an excerpt from a dance drama, Butterfly Lovers, a tragic tale of young love often conveniently - if a bit too summarily - referred to as China's Romeo and Juliet.