A Chinese dance drama has made its global debut on social media platforms abroad, generating a new wave of discussion on the beauty of Chinese culture among art lovers from all over the world.

Li Bai, a classic production by the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater, has struck a chord with global audiences through the telling of a lifelong journey of the literary giant Li Bai.

After a year of fine-tuning and polishing, that seminal work has returned to center stage. From plot structure to music composition, stage settings and costume design, the renewed version of Li Bai is telling the story of China's literary giant with a fresh new look. The classic piece by the prestigious institution greeted audiences at the National Centre for the Performing Arts three months ago with sold out shows. For those who missed it, the streaming event provides another chance to take it in. 

Watch it again here. 

With a contemporary perspective and a script where reality is intertwined with fiction, Li Bai unfolds around the literati's movement between the tangible and the intangible as he struggles between his search for the "Taoism way" and "political influence".

Director Han Baoquan created a stage that reveals Li Bai's emotional world through choices he makes at key junctures of his life. An aesthetic depiction of the poet's passion, talent and audacity put forward a Li Bai who was persistent in his pursuits. As lead actor Hu Yang put it, "Each person has their own Li Bai." Perhaps the most valuable takeaway from the play for an audience member is finding a part of him- or herself in the literary giant.

Under the baton of renowned conductor Tan Lihua, this online broadcast of Li Bai is a symphonic choral version, just like the live performance delivered at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The new music composition skillfully combines orchestral symphony with traditional Chinese music, where the tone and timbre of the symphony beautifully sets off the traditional instruments. The music was scored to integrate with the dance and drama to more vividly express the flow of the plot. Audiences can get a taste of the great Tang Dynasty as they are presented onstage through poetry, dance and music.

In the words of Yang Yi, project coordinator of Li Bai, "art has no boundaries. The audience doesn't necessarily need to know the entire life of the character, or understand this person. But the audience sees a Chinese way of expression, a Chinese story and a Chinese cultural atmosphere."

Li Bai was viewed more than 5.57 million times and created a stirring scene on social media platforms outside of China, with more than 1.33 million interactions. In telling the story of a great poet, China has once again passed on its heritage and carried Chinese culture forward in its own way.

Li Bai is the closing piece of the online season, which began in late January and held three other live broadcasts both in China and abroad. The epic dance drama Confucius told the story of the sage with rich historical anecdotes and references to traditional Chinese values. The play received more than 855,000 views on YouTube. New Year Gala: Ode to Spring was watched more than 520,000 times on Facebook, in which many internet users said they felt the welcoming and festive atmosphere of Chinese Lunar New Year. Lastly, Melodies of Spring: A Concert of ChineseMusic highlighted traditional forms of Chinese art.

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