France: Paris Gala Makes People Proud to be Chinese

With long sleeves, dancing and string music, the 2006 NTDTV New Year Gala set its background in the flourishing age of the Tang Dynasty. It brought the audience the broad and lenient traditional Chinese culture as well as the pure and untarnished human spirit. This Gala awakened overseas Chinese peoples’ memories of traditional Chinese culture and made them feel proud to see such a magnificent performance by their fellow countrymen. This type of vibrant and exciting display of traditional culture has been banished from its home in China since the Communist Party snatched power there over half a century ago. The gala also attracted western people.

The 2006 NTDTV’s Paris New Year Gala was held in the main hall in the biggest theatre in Paris - Palais des Congres de Paris. French mainstream politicians, famous artists and many other VIPs were invited to attend. The audience swelled to over three thousand people in total, including Chinese tourists and some local residents. The whole show gave people a very deep impression.

Mr. Baozhang Wu, a senior French media personality who is a former reporter of Xinhua News Agency and former director of the Chinese department of Radio France International, also attended the Gala. After viewing the whole performance, he declared: “On the whole, this is a very pleasing show, a soiree which indeed promoted Chinese culture. Every player is seriously creating art on the stage; it’s not like watching those in mainland China who are just puppets. The design of the backdrop of the stage was definitely a great plan. It did not use a huge amount of colour, which acts like a presumptuous guest who usurps the host's role. On the contrast, it served to give a highly reasonable and harmonious art atmosphere.”