Dancers from the Shanghai Dance Theatre perform The Eternal Wave, a successful show staged recently in the city. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"We are grateful for the opportunity to be the opening show for the CSIAF," Yu adds.

"To make it more enjoyable for international audiences, we decided to highlight the heroic deeds of a soldier stopping the enemy's destruction of the Shanghai Power Plant and downplay the confrontation between the Communists and the Kuomintang army. This is a story of love, devotion and sacrifice. We hope this can help the production attract a wider audience."

Wang Huaifu, 35, plays the lead role in the production in which he performs a variety of stunts, including climbing ladders unsupported, hanging from the ceiling and jumping off trampolines. But these are easy tasks for a man who started training as an acrobat at the age of 9. The most difficult part of the role, he says, is portraying the character.