The early plum blossoms on Plum Blossom Hill (Nanjing) burst open to the accompaniment of elegant Kunqu opera

On this after-rain weekend, early plum blossoms of more than ten varieties on Plum Blossom Hill (Nanjing) burst open, including Red Midwinter, Single-petal Early White, Lightly-decorated Palace Beauty and Nanjing Early Red. From the following week to early March, if it is sunny with temperature further rising, all the varieties of medium flowers, e.g. Nanjing Red, Little Green Calyx and Southern Palace Beauty, will also burst open in turn. By then, a more colorful and gorgeous landscape will have appeared on Plum Blossom Hill. At present, people can go to appreciate early plum blossoms near the southern slope of Plum Blossom Hill and the Tomb of Sun Quan in the Scenic Area of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum. Medium flowers will be in full blossom at the beginning of next month. By then, people can appreciate plum blossoms everywhere in the Scenic Area of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum.
While appreciating plum blossoms, tourists might as well go to Plum Blossom Valley to watch the wonderful performance of Zhongshan Kunqu Opera Society of Nanjing on the square, once a day on February 27, February 28, March 6 and March 7 (10:30 on the morning of Saturday and Sunday). The performance focuses on Kunqu operas and dances, including Suanzi •Ode to Plum (a dance of Kunqu adapted according to a poem of late chairman Mao Zedong), Life in the Army (a male solo of Kunqu adapted according to a poem of the Tang Dynasty), Black Robe Lane, Mooring on Qinhuai River, Tower City, and Picturesque Southern China (A series of Kunqu songs adapted according to ancient poems about Nanjing), Yuhua Pebble (a dance), Moonlit Night by a Spring River (a dance of Kunqu adapted according to a poem of the Tang Dynasty), Mounting the Phoenix Tower in Nanjing (a fashion show to the accompaniment of a Kunqu song), and so on and so forth. These programs are elegant, delicate and typical of Nanjing.

(Drafted by Wang Yi, and edited by Chen Ken)