Members of the Sichuan Opera Troupe stage the classic "Catching Sanlang Alive" in Chengdu, Sichuan province on Aug 14, 2023. (WILLIAM XU / CHINA DAILY)

Sichuan province is aiming  to deepen ties with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by boosting the cultural creative industry, tourism, youth communication and traditional opera.

Officials said Hong Kong could serve as an ideal bridgehead to promote Sichuan culture internationally, and added that they are hoping for more cross-boundary exchanges.

The Hong Kong media delegation visited the Sanxingdui Museum on Tuesday and learned about the latest developments at the archaeological site

At a briefing on Monday, Cai Lingyun, director of international cooperation and exchanges under Sichuan provincial Cultural and Tourism Department, said that her department is working closely with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to advance cooperation on cultural and creative industries, and is aiming to achieve more concrete results this year.

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Cai said the goal is to broaden Hong Kong people’s understanding of Sichuan’s arts, handcrafts, and tourist attractions as well as promote the province’s prowess in modern cultural industry such as post-production of animation.

Sichuan also hopes to become a major study tour destination for Hong Kong students, Cai said. She told reporters that the province’s tourism and education sectors have been inviting Hong Kong’s school heads and officials in charge of education affairs to come and gain first-hand experience of Sichuan since cross-boundary travel resumed in January.

Cai added that Hong Kong, as an international convention and exhibition hub, is an ideal platform for a global audience to experience  Sichuan Culture.

A Hong Kong media delegation began a five-day visit to Sichuan on Monday to see the southwest Chinese province’s recent achievements in culture, tourism and archaeology.

As a symbol of Sichuan culture, Sichuan Opera is one of the highlights on the delegation’s itinerary. On Monday afternoon, the delegation arrived in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, and toured the Sichuan Opera Troupe, a major base of Sichuan Opera’s talent training and promotion.

Artists from the troupe have frequently taken to the stage in Hong Kong. They were invited to attend this year’s China Opera Festival in Hong Kong and performed a host of iconic pieces such as The Legend of the White Snake and A Marriage as a Peace Pact from June 30 to July 2.

Nearly half of the relics that will be displayed in the exhibition were unearthed from 2020-22 at Sanxingdui ( “Three-Star Mound”)

Fan Mingjun, a senior script writer at the Sichuan Opera Troupe, said Sichuan Opera is constantly adopting innovations to better reflect modern life, just like other traditional Chinese performing arts.

Fan said he adds some contemporary elements such as high-speed trains into the scripts of Sichuan Opera, which receives positive feedback especially from young audiences.

In addition, to encourage people to love Sichuan Opera, Fan underscored the importance of promoting the opera to overseas regions, stressing that Hong Kong has a role to play too.

Fan cited the example of Hong Kong pop singer Andy Lau Tak-wah, who learned the techniques of Bian Lian, also known as “face changing”, – a facemask performance art form of Sichuan Opera, from Sichuan Opera master Peng Denghuai in early 2000s.

Lau’s act has boosted Sichuan Opera’s image overseas, Fan said, adding that he hopes to cooperate more  with Hong Kong stars to promote traditional opera.

Performing in Hong Kong is also a confidence booster for junior members of the troupe. Wang Zihao, 29, said Hong Kong’s multi-cultural background raises local audiences to a high aesthetic level. Therefore, performing in Hong Kong helps young actors like him learn a lot, Wang said.

Wang also said cross-boundary exchanges can help opera singers to learn from each other and spark new ideas to improve their performance.

Cantonese Opera borrows some performance techniques from Sichuan Opera, and Sichuan opera players also learn some martial arts movements from their counterparts in Guangdong and Hong Kong, Wang said.

The Hong Kong media delegation visited the Sanxingdui Museum on Tuesday and learned about the latest developments at the archaeological site.

In late September, visitors to the Hong Kong Palace Museum will be able to view about 120 cultural relics from the site, including jade, gold and pottery that dates back as far as 3,300 years ago at an exhibition titled Gazing at Sanxingdui: New Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan. 

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Nearly half of the relics that will be displayed in the exhibition were unearthed from 2020-22 at Sanxingdui ( “Three-Star Mound”). Most of the relics will be displayed outside Sichuan for the first time.

On Thursday, the reporters will visit Dujiangyan, another city in Sichuan, to experience the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas, and the millennium-old Dujiangyan Irrigation System.

They will also tour the San Su Shrine Museum in the city of Meishan and wrap up the visit on Friday.