Zhang Yimou stages Turandot at the Bird's Nest

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After dazzling the world with his grand opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, renowned filmmaker Zhang Yimou is gearing up for yet another spectacular surprise for the eyes. During the upcoming National Day celebration, he will mount the opera "Turandot" at the Bird's Nest.

To stage this operatic production, Zhang Yimou leads a team of artistic heavyweights that includes the other major creators of the Beijing Game's opening ceremony. Among them are choreographer Chen Weiya and lighting engineer Sha Xiaolan. To accommodate the audience at the gigantic venue, the team will deploy an enormous video screen of one-thousand square meters and 34 projectors. The latest technology will be used to render an unimaginable spectacle.

Zhang initially directed the opera in 1998 at the Ancestral Shrine in the Forbidden City. The production, which tells the love story of a Chinese princess named Turandot, subsequently toured South Korea, France, Germany, and Spain.

The Bird's Nest version will feature a cast of some one thousand performers, and for the production, more than 4-thousand sets of elaborate costumes have been commissioned. The budget for the new spectacular was 1.2-billion yuan, or about 180 million US dollars. The promoter said that after its premiere on October the 6th and 7th, they plan to take the show on tour to 20 cities, giving about 30 performances around the world.