On Sept 15, the 13th China Art Festival closed with a ceremony held in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei province.
Fifteen theatrical productions put on by performing art troupes across the country stood out among hundreds of candidates to win the Wenhua Award, the top national award for performing arts. The productions reflected the importance of traditional culture and were well-received by audiences.
The play Teacher Guimei, created by the Yunnan Drama Theater, also received the Wenhua Award. Directed by playwrights Wang Baoshe and Chang Hao, the show premiered in Kunming, Yunnan province, in June last year, with award-winning actress Li Hongmei in the leading role.
It is based on the life of Zhang Guimei, who was born in 1957 in Heilongjiang province.
After graduating from Lijiang Normal School, Zhang moved with her husband to Dali in Yunnan, where both of them worked as teachers. After her husband died in 1996, Zhang moved to Huaping county in Lijiang, where she taught at the Huaping Girls' High School and ran a children's home.
Zhang has few savings, having donated more than 1 million yuan ($143,480) to the school over the past three decades. She still teaches at the school and lives in its dormitory with female students.
Following in her footsteps, many of the school's graduates have chosen to work in remote areas.
Last year, Zhang was one of the recipients of the July 1 Medal, the highest honor given to members of the CPC, awarded for her outstanding contributions to education in mountainous regions.
"The company's creative team spent 12 years preparing for the play," said Ma Jie, president of the Yunnan Drama Theater. "Team members traveled often to visit Zhang, interview her and observe her life with the students."
Ma added that "one of the best ways to create stage productions is to observe real life and inspire audiences with real stories".
