After his highly acclaimed Olympic opening ceremony, Chinese film-maker Zhang Yimou is going back to live performance, directing a series of musical shows tailor-made for China's popular tourism destinations. The latest production of the series "Impression Hainan Island" debuted this week in Haikou, the capital city of China's southernmost Hainan Province.

 Staged on the shore of a water park, the 70-minute show was a spectacle of lights, music, dance and theatrics. Using the sea and its surroundings for scenery and lighting, more than three hundred actors created a sensational performance, which won constant applause throughout.

 Wang Chaoge, co-director of "Impression Hainan Island" said, "We three have gained certain experiences through working for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. It marks a drastic turn in our artistic ideology. Zhang Yimou especially feels that way. Critics have valued our show as an "idealistic" performance.

Impression Hainan Island was originally named as "Impression Sea". It marks the fourth installment in Zhang's Impression series, a collaboration with directors Wang Chaoge and Fan Yue.

The trio's previous three Impression shows include 2004's Sister Liu in Guilin, Impression Lijiang in 2006 and Impression West Lake in 2007. All combine unique local scenes, legends and spectacle folk performances and are staged periodically in specially-constructed outdoor venues.

 
The show employed multimedia projection technology. For a moment, the stage had a great expanse of ocean as its backdrop. Then, all of a sudden, it turned into a sandy beach, bathed in sunshine.

Wang Chaoge said, "We've tried to balance between the use of highly-advanced technology and the unequivocal natural beauty. It's lucky that we almost made it."

 The show gives a full showcase to the unique customs, life styles and cultures of ethnic people like Li and Miao.

The performance will run for the next two weeks. Adjustments will be made according to the audience's reaction, before the show formally premieres in April during the Bo'ao Forum for Asia.