WASHINGTON—Shen Yun Performing Arts completed its seven-show run at The Kennedy Center Opera House on Jan. 24 to a full house and standing ovation.
In the audience was Mr. Yang Xiao Cheng, who was originally from Shanghai, China but has been living in the United States for the last 20 years. Mr. Yang works for the U.S. branch of a Europe-based international company focused on information processing.
He drove for over three hours to catch the event this year, his third year in a row to see the show but in a different city each time.
Classical Chinese culture, which is integral to Shen Yun performances, touches Mr. Yang each time he sees the company:
“Every time I watch it I feel like I found my roots in China once again ... I think it’s the traditional values that Chinese people have cherished throughout centuries, or millennia I should say. It’s the honesty, the kindness and the perseverance, and also the respecting of the heavens,” he said.
“I would say it is something that truly carries on the legacy of this divine, inspired Chinese culture to the Western world and people should not miss it.”
Mr. Yang arrived in the United States when China was beginning to open up to the West in the 1980’s.
“Freedom of speech, freedom of belief; I only gradually began to learn of these values after I had come here ... no wonder this year’s performance is so welcome in the United States!”
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