A scene from the opera Great Changes – Our Woyu Island. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

An opera titled Great Changes – Our Woyu Island made its debut at the Nantong Grand Theater in Nantong, Jiangsu on Nov 11.

A scene from the opera Great Changes – Our Woyu Island. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

The two-hour opera shows the changes in relations between human beings and the Yangtze River as well as the protection of the river through two generations of two families during 40 years of opening up and reform in China.

The opera includes three acts depicting the ordinary lives of fishermen in the 1980s, damage to the environment on Woyu Island in the early twenty-first century, and ecological restoration efforts in the new era, respectively.

A scene from the opera Great Changes – Our Woyu Island. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

According to Lu Ang, chief director and scriptwriter of the opera, the archetype of Woyu Island is Kaisha Island in Nantong, and due to the opera reflecting the vicissitudes of Chinese society, he did not use the name specific to Nantong but gave it a fictitious name.

A scene from the opera Great Changes – Our Woyu Island. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

"Many scenes in the opera happened in our lifetimes," said Chen Hui, Party secretary of the general Party branch of Kaisha village, noting that the creators of the opera visited Kaishan Island many times during production to learn about locals' daily lives and the changes in local fishermen's lives.

"I was touched by the actors' vivid performances," added Chen.

A scene from the opera Great Changes – Our Woyu Island. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

"Nantong is the home of opera and it has produced opera for every era," said Wang Zihe, deputy director of the Nantong municipal bureau of culture, broadcasting, and tourism. "Great Changes – Our Woyu Island is not only a work of realism, but also a work of aestheticism."

Wang noted that the opera also teaches people that a city can still preserve its beautiful nature while pursuing economic development.