STRASBOURG, France—For its final performance in eastern France, Shen Yun played to a sold-out crowd at the Zénith in Eckbolsheim.
For 120 years, the Baur family has been well known in the Sélestat region, in Ebermunster, for its restaurant “Aux deux clés,” which specializes in freshwater fish.
Before handing over the family restaurant to his son, Jean-Jacques Baur was a pastry chef at the establishment. But the pastry chef finally decided to put his skills to use helping younger people. So he became a pastry teacher.
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, the teacher was among the audience members at Shen Yun.
“We don’t know much about Chinese art and dance,” said the pastry chef. “So for us, it was really something we had to see. It’s sensational!”
A music lover himself, Jean-Jacques Baur particularly enjoyed Shen Yun’s orchestra: “Impressive! I occasionally look down into the pit and see some interesting techniques at work.”
Mr. Baur was also impressed by the harmony created by “the magnificent dance scenes, the costumes, and the precision and perfection of the dances performed. It’s truly sensational! It’s really top-notch because the choreography is very difficult!”
Shen Yun has made it its mission to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture, which the Chinese Communist regime attempted to destroy upon coming to power in 1949 in order to impose communist ideology. For this reason, Shen Yun cannot perform in China today.
While he approves of Shen Yun’s mission, Mr. Baur admits to being surprised by this state of affairs. “It’s still surprising, considering that it’s a culture that’s over 5,000 years old,” he says.
Delighted to have had this experience, Jean-Jacques Baur concludes: “Don’t hesitate! It’s something wonderful to see!”
Émeline Uros and her mother, Élisabeth Uros, came to experience Shen Yun at the Zénith in Strasbourg on Feb. 5, 2026. Zhang Ni/The Epoch Times
Emeline Uros and her mother had been hoping to see Shen Yun for a long time. The pharmaceutical engineer enjoyed the presence of the Shen Yun orchestra. Unique, it combines a classical Western symphony orchestra with the sounds of Eastern instruments such as the erhu, pipa, and gong.
“The fact that there is live music really brings out stronger emotions. It’s very enjoyable,” said the young woman.
In addition to dance and song performances that bring traditional Chinese culture to life, Shen Yun exposes the reality of communist China today, including the persecution of practitioners of the Falun Dafa meditation discipline. Since 1999, the Chinese communist regime has harassed, persecuted, imprisoned, and tortured Falun Dafa practitioners to death. Crimes of forced organ harvesting are also being perpetrated against practitioners.
Emeline Uros and her mother said they were particularly moved by these paintings: “You become aware of things you didn’t know about,” she said, adding that it was “courageous” of the Shen Yun artists to dare to denounce these persecutions.
For Elisabeth Uros, Shen Yun artists are “taking risks” by exposing these facts to the world.
Indeed, on the company’s website, we learn that “Ever since Shen Yun was founded, the CCP has tried to stop us from performing, using an array of tactics.
For Émeline, Shen Yun is “a wonderful discovery in every way, both culturally and artistically.”
Reporting by Sarita Modmesaïb and translated from the French language Epoch Times by Sonia Rouleau.
