Red Chamber goes to the opera

"They are all mature artists, and I respect their decisions. I can hear that they have gone through a lot of thinking and considerations based on my original work. I am greatly honored that these artists are representing my work using their voices and their experience. It's very interesting to discover in their rendition things I'd never thought of. We all love Dream of the Red Chamber, yet we can have different interpretations."

The concert is a core stage production in the 13th Cao Xueqin Cultural and Art Festival, which opened in Beijing on Sept 19 and will run until December, providing events including stage performances, exhibitions and lectures.

The festival was founded by the Cao Xueqin Society in Beijing and co-hosted by the publicity department of Haidian district of Beijing, the China National Botanical Garden and the Cao Xueqin Society.

The theme of this year's festival is "reading Dream of the Red Chamber together", which is in line with a new national policy, says Wei Lingzhi, secretary-general of the Cao Xueqin Society.

A recent document of the Ministry of Education says middle schools throughout the country will use the same Chinese textbook, and an assignment on the first-year book refers to "reading the book Dream of the Red Chamber". This means that each year the book will have at least 10 million more readers, Wei says.

From October to December this year, 10 lectures will be hosted. Scholars and experts specializing in studying the book and from the education field will speak at these lectures.