The National Ballet of China premiered its latest production, Yimeng, on Saturday at the Tianqiao Theater in Beijing to celebrate the upcoming 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in 2021.

The work, which is based on the company's classic piece, Ode to the Yimeng Mountain, tells stories with scenes adapted from real events, with such titles as Bridge Under Fire, The Virgin Bride and Passions of Yimeng.

Classic songs composed by Liu Tingyu, such as the folk ballad, Yimeng Tune, which depicts China's beautiful natural scenery, were performed by the company's symphony orchestra under the baton of conductor Huang Yi.

In May 1973, the company premiered Ode to Yimeng Mountain as a tribute to residents of Yinan county in East China's Shandong province who supported Communist troops during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the following War of Liberation (1946-49).

The local women, known as the "Red Sisters", not only helped these soldiers by making shoes and clothes for them but also sometimes sacrificing their lives to protect them. Ode to the Yimeng Mountains was adapted into a film in 1975 by the People's Liberation Army's August First Film Studio.

Jiang Zuhui, who is one of the choreographers of the company's classic production, The Red Detachment of Women, and is the artistic consultant of the latest ballet piece, Yimeng, attended the premiere and said she was impressed by the young ballet dancers'performance.

"The stories told in the piece are from decades ago and the young dancers interpreted the roles with their own understanding, which made the classic piece alive," said Jiang.

Yimeng is being staged at the Tianqiao Theater through Monday.