From July 5 to 24, 2023, invited by China National Theatre for Children(CNTC), 23 people from 4 cities of Montana and California of U.S.A. visited Beijing and Xi’an of China for 20 days. Within which there are 15 teens who are high school students, they performed CNTC’s classic show Chinese Mermaid by speaking Chinese and dancing ballet on the stage of CNTC, as the opening show of the 12th China Children’s Theatre Festival, also brought a wonderful dancing recital Youth Connects East West embodies Chinese and Western cultural characteristics.

The show Chinese Mermaid(US version)

 This is a meaningful and valuable folk cultural exchange between China and US. As Ms. Li Feng, President of CNTC said, theatre for children and young people is a "world language" that enables children of different countries and races to instantly communicate without words. Theatre for children and young people is the seed of innocence, kindness, beauty. It is also the seed of love, culture, and friendship from which sprouts blossoms of the utmost beauty.

Rehearsal of the show Chinese Mermaid

Chinese Mermaid performed by 15 US teens is one main part of a program which is called China-US Youth Theatre Exchange Program hosted by China National Theatre for Children and Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre, supported by China International Culture Association and Center for Language Education and Cooperation.

Kong Simeng