Comment on the January 19 Spring Festival Gala 2009 Show at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa

The show was really great and mostly of a fairly high culture nature suited to the NAC as a venue (dual erhu-violin concerto with Ottawa Symphony, etc.) I was happy with it as it really highlighted to Canadians what a rich culture and civilization China has.

The Chinese Embassy should be doing more of this sort of positive soft diplomacy in my opinion. On the rest of the troupe's stops of the tour in the States it is more of a "united front" thing designed to maintain identity with the PRC among people of Chinese origin who have resettled abroad. So in the States the show is mostly in Chinese including more popular contemporary numbers and stuff inaccessible to English speakers such as comic dialogues.

Anyway the Chinese Ambassador Lan Lijun appeared rightly very pleased with the version of the show put on in Canada.

Everybody (including me) hopes "Dashan" will take my place as co-MC next year.

Southam Hall appeared to have been sold out, but I doubt this show generates a profit.