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TONG Liya returns to her roots as a dancer, reaching every “home” across China
When there come drumbeats, steps are taken toward the unknown
After journeying far and wide, we always return
After seven years of amelioration, the dance drama Far Away - Here returns with fully upgraded stage scenery and choreography
“Far away” - my heart is bound forever to every inch of my homeland
“Here” - my love unfolds in dance, a language I know best
Most Anticipated Performance IP of the Year at the 2025 Weibo Gala
In 2026, we’re embarking on a pilgrimage to every “home” across China
Wherever we meet, there is home
The dance drama Far Away - Here is a heartfelt artistic tribute. Through six chapters - “Encounter”, “To Father”, “To Mother”, “To Love”, “To Far Away”, and “To Here” - it unfurls as a long artistic scroll of songs and dances from multiple ethnic groups, including Uyghur, Xibe and Tajik. Each chapter is not merely a stage presentation, but also a cultural dialogue beyond language.
Presented in the form of a prose poem, Far Away - Here threads together six emotional vignettes with delicate artistry. It blends with the Xibe people’s ancient wisdom of “keeping records by tying knots” and their inheritance of faith in “Xili Mama”. Also, through Kazakh horsemanship - “Girl Chase”, it showcases the passion and freedom of love, something like the wind. The six chapters unfold like six flowing paintings of ethnic life, presenting a complete journey from innocent childhood to throbbing youth, to faraway pursuit and to return of the heart.
This is more than a performance - it is more of a love letter to Xinjiang, to the land of China, and to the world. It speaks through winds on the grassland, eagles circling over the plateau, and youthful figures galloping on horseback. It is also dedicated to every soul who ever looked up at the same moon on a night far from home.
Far Away - Here invites you into such an encounter across the land and culture so that you will look far and see yourself in a dialogue between dance and poetry.
Executive Presenter: TONG Liya
Artistic Consultant: Dilnar Abdulla
Starring/Chief Producer: TONG Liya
Chief Executive Producer: CAI Xiaorong
Chief Coordinators: ZHANG Jie, Yasengjan Mamat
Chief Director: DONG Jie
Deputy Stage Directors: WANG Tiantian, PANG Lijia, Kudratil Kur
Co-Deputy Stage Director: Dabuli Hebat
Managing Producer: ZHOU Jie
Deputy Managing Producer: CHEN Kai
Playwright: GAO Ya
Visual Director: REN Dongsheng
Music Director: HU Xiao'ou
Costume Designer: YANG Donglin
Makeup & Hair Style Designer: JIA Lei
Set Designer: ZHANG Chi
Lighting Designers: ZHOU Yuqi, CHEN Ruomeng, CHEN Yaqi
Video Projection Designers: WU Guangxin, ZHOU Tao
Costume Production Coordinators: WANG Bo, MA Yilin
Assistant Set Designer: WANG Mingxuan
Video Projection Production: YE Yujie, LONG Shuyu, YOU Zhice, YE Xintao
Costumes Construction: CAO Qinghong
Poster Designer: ZHU Yehai
Dramaturg: WEI Lijiang
Stage Manager: JIA Cheng
Co-Stage Manager: Ibrahim Abdulla
Assistant Director: LUO Xiuyue
Tour Coordinator: FU Lina
Publicity Coordinator: GAO Xue
Graphic Designer: LEI Yu
Business Cooperation: LI Xuezhu
Presenter: Song and Dance Troupe of Xinjiang Art Theatre
Lead Cast
Daren Aredake
Anikarjan Erkin
Dilare Dolikun
Medina Aisha
Perhat Ablikim
Guzaliya Aimaier
Kudreti Yasen
Muredili Mamat
It is a love letter to home and to the world. Composed of six chapters, much in little, with everything expressed in dance, the dance drama tells not only the stories of different ethnic groups, but also the seven-year return journey of Far Away - Here.
Chapter I Encounter
Between the high sky and vast land, we encounter you in the crowd, like a camel caravan encountering the desert and a traveler encountering the iceberg. At that moment, you become part of our lives. Our joys and sorrows, our spirit and soul, all take root in this vast land, sprouting and growing into towering trees.
Chapter II To Father
Father, you are the river of inheritance that flows without end. You are the descendant of those who journeyed from the Liao River in Northeast China to the e Ili River in Northwest China. With unyielding strength, you hold up the sky of our lives. Reading you, we understand the epic story of the Xibe people, who live on the remote border area. Your love for us, deep as the mountains, shows us what it means to bear responsibility and to stand firm. The ancient wisdom of “Xili Mama” and “keeping records by tying knots”, passed down through our blood, has long been engraved in our memory.
The Xibe People
In 1764, over a thousand Xibe soldiers and their families journey from Shengjing (now Shenyang) to Ili, Xinjiang, where they take up the duty of guarding the northwestern frontiers for generations. Their culture takes root there, too. Prayer to “Xili Mama” for blessing is the most ritualistic part of Chapter Two.
Chapter III To Mother
Mother, you are the warm yet tough bond of blood and love. You often tell us funny stories - how the Tajik people, who live in mountains, revere the eagle as their totem, and how “hand-kissing”, which is full of maternal love, is upheld as a ritual. Your tender heart nourishes us like sunlight. No matter how far we travel, your arms remain our eternal sanctuary.
The Tajik People
The eagle is the most iconic symbol of the Tajik people, standing for bravery, freedom, and protection. The Tajik people dance as if they were eagles in soaring flight, looking like a mother guarding both her children and the homeland with her arms.
Chapter IV To Love
No one in the world can reject love.
The Kazakh People
“Girl Chase”, a unique Kazakh tradition, came into being as a courtship ritual in which young men and girls expressed their feelings through horse races. Now it is a dance of vitality and high spirits.
We are children raised in the embrace of Kazakh grasslands. The mellow milk tea, made by herdsmen, remains what we love most. We still remember playing and chasing each other in the sea of flowers and grass, where we also spurred the horse in pursuit of love. That is what youth looks like. That is our purest praise and passion for life.
Chapter V To Far Away
The faraway is not far away. It just lies along the ancient Silk Road. Whatever appears in our dream is a treasure of our civilisation - whether it is the Sama, Dolan, Loulan, Guici or Flying Apsaras in the grotto murals. On this road, we once left our footprints, deep or shallow, in our worn-out dance shoes. No matter how far we go, the blood that flows through our veins is that of the Chinese people.
What we seek is the echo of civilisational integration, and our identification with the homeland.
Chapter VI To Here
Home is far away, yet home is right here. A faraway place lies beneath our feet, while home resides in the heart. Now let us make a new start and write to the world a love letter from our homeland. For home is where our hearts beat closest - it pulses in our veins, never to end.
TONG Liya
TONG Liya is an actress and dance drama producer.
Her representative works include films The Woman in the Storm, Black Dog, Octopus with Broken Arms, Till Love Do Us Apart, How Long Will I Love U, The Brilliant Capture of Tiger Mountain, and Detective Chinatown, TV dramas Ordinary World, Nirvana in Fire 2, Sowers of Hope, and Beijing Love Story Movie, and dance drama Far Away - Here.
TONG Liya won the Audience Award for Best Actress at the 28th China TV Golden Eagle Awards, Nomination for Best Actress at the 21st Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards, Most Popular Actress Award at the 26th Beijing College Student Film Festival, Most Media-Attentive Actress Award at the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival, And Nomination for Outstanding Actress Award at the 17th China Huabiao Film Awards.
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