Chen Shizheng, from Hunan province, sang the flower drum song, learned a modern dance and has a particular understanding of eastern and western cultures. He shocked audiences with a production of:”The Peony Pavilion" at the Lincoln Center in 1999. During that time, the Chinese had not yet fully accepted Chen's eccentric forms. The Shanghai Kun Opera Troupe once stopped playing and he had to start another group. Fourteen years later，Chinese culture has become more open.

 

Chen Shizheng has already tried a few small pieces of Peking Opera and acrobatics at home. Back at the Lincoln Center, his director for "Journey to the West" aroused controversy but Western audiences liked it, Chinese audiences who are familiar with this story have a lot of controversy to present. In fact, the controversy itself has made it a success. Telling a Chinese story to mainstream western audiences at the Lincoln Center is always better than a circus in Chinatown.