From London to Paris to Rome, Chinese ballet dancers showed the West a distinctly Chinese face during the first ever European tour of one of the country's premier cultural institutions, the Central Ballet Ensemble.

The one-month performance of the The Red Detachment of Women and Raise the Red Lantern, two long-running ballet-dramas in the company's repertoire, earned rave reviews from both audiences and the media.

The Central Ballet Ensemble was the first ballet company in China, and now it has become the first ballet troupe from China to tour Europe.

Throughout November, the group travelled from London to Rome, staging over 30 performances of The Red Detachment of Women and Raise the Red Lantern. The tickets went like hot cakes, selling out 10 days prior to the opening night on Nov. 1 in London.

Over the years, the Central Ballet Ensemble has been committed to incorporating the rich heritage of Chinese classical and folk dance into traditional forms of ballet. And the result is striking. Many members of the international media, including the Times, the BBC and the Independent, as well as some of the world's top ballet experts, gave the shows rave reviews.

Some of the ballet-related exhibitions also aroused great interest, such as the costume and Chinese lantern exhibitions. Walking under the red lanterns hanging in the theater lounge, the experience was made even more real for the members of the audience who had just experienced the Chinese ballet.

(CCTV December 2, 2003)