Members of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Company stage The Grand Canal at Brussels Cirque Royal, Belgium./China Daily

An original Chinese opera, The Grand Canal, was staged at Brussels Cirque Royal, Belgium, on July 7, winning a warm reception from the local audience.

The Western-style opera, performed by actors from Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Company, relates the history of Grand Canal, which was built under the leadership of Yang Guang, also known as Suiyang Di, or Emperor Suiyang, the second and final emperor of the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618). The Brussels performance was one of the celebration events for the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the European Union.

Emperor Suiyang took power in AD 604 and is known for organizing the construction of the Grand Canal, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which stretches from north to south across eastern China. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the longest canal or artificial river in the world, the Grand Canal remains a lifeline for transportation and water resources for that region today.

Dai Yuqiang, one of the most famous opera singers in China, assumed the role of the emperor. He says that the ancient Chinese history, told in the form of Western opera, is appreciated by Western audiences.

The exhibition Photos of The Grand Canal was presented at the hall of Brussels Cirque Royal along with the opera that night. Audience members also interacted with Chinese inheritors of intangible cultural heritages along the Grand Canal regions, experiencing the beauty of arts such as Nantong blueprint cloth, Suzhou embroidery and Wuxi clay figurines.