Born in December 1953 in Wenquan Town, Yingshan County, Hubei Province, XIONG Zhaozheng is a writer, poet and scholar.

In 1975, he began working as a creative writing instructor at the Yingshan County Cultural Centre. In 1981, he became a professional writer with the Hubei Writers Association and joined the China Writers Association in the same year. From 1984 to 1986, he served as deputy editor-in-chief of Changjiang Literature and Art.

Between 1985 and 2018, he held a succession of prominent cultural and academic positions, including Vice Chairman of the Hubei Writers Association, member of the National Committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Hubei Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Director of the Hubei Provincial Government’s Museum of Literature and History, Director of the Institute of Literature and History at the Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, Writer-in-Residence at Wuhan University, and Executive Vice Chairman of the Chinese Culture Promotion Society.

His public service also includes serving as a member of the 9^th Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from 2006, a standing committee member of the 10^th Hubei Provincial CPPCC, a deputy to the 12^th National People's Congress, and a member of the 13^th National Committee of the CPPCC.

His works have received numerous prestigious national awards. In 1981, his political lyric poetry won the First National Award for Outstanding New Poetry by Young and Middle-Aged Poets. In 2005, his historical novel Zhang Juzheng won first place at the Sixth Mao Dun Literature Prize.

He currently serves as a member of the 14^th National Committee of the CPPCC, Honourary Chairman of the Chinese Culture Promotion Society, Honourary Chairman of the Hubei Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Consultant to the NCPA Arts Committee, Research Fellow at the Palace Museum, Senior Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Director of the Institute of Silk Road History and Culture.

WANG Rui is a professor and doctoral supervisor in the Department of Directing at the Beijing Film Academy. He is a member of the China Film Directors’ Guild and the China Television Drama Directors Committee, and a member of the 14^th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

His selected film works include Divorced? Don’t Come Looking for Me Again (1995), Soaring Flying Leopard (1999), A Fine Rain in Winter (2002) and The Cloud in Her Room (2018). His films have received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Feature Film Award at the China Huabiao Film Awards, the Jury Special Award at the International Television Festival, the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Best Director Award at the China Golden Rooster Awards.

His selected television works include Stories of the North, Beyond Emotion, Ups and Downs, The Final Diagnosis, Chasing the Love I May Have Lost, Old Cheng, Miss Beiping, Gunpowder and the Marquis and Happiness Is with You, for which he served as both director and screenwriter. The latter received the Outstanding Work Award at the 13^th “Five-One Project” Awards for the Promotion of Spiritual Civilisation, organised by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

His published books include Exploring the Image: Studies in the Art of Film Directing and Writing with Light and Shadow: Studies of Master Film Directors.

LUO Yazhuo graduated from the Stage Design programme at the Central Academy of Drama in 2005 and is a Level II set designer with the China Coal Mine Art Troupe. He has won the Gold Award in the Professional Category at the World Stage Design (WSD) exhibition.

He is a member of the China Theatre Association and the China Institute of Stage Design, a guest lecturer at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, and an instructor for the 2025 National Arts Fund programme Training Innovative Talent in New Quality Productive Forces for the Performing Arts.

His credits include the stage design for Putting the People First, a concert celebrating the 105^th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China; the 2026 Spring Festival Special Programme Art China, presented by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; and the closing ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

His work was selected for the China National Exhibition at the 2024 Tbilisi Scenography Biennale. His production The Double received the Outstanding Design Award at Beijing Design Week, while Painted Skin: Return to Dust was the only Chinese production selected for the 2019 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. He was also shortlisted for Best Stage Design at the 2024 Guilin Arts Festival’s OUYANG Yuqian Theatre Awards. The drama Savouring was recognised as an Outstanding Production at the 18^th China Theatre Festival in 2023.

Selected works include the dance drama Creation of the Heavens and the Earth, the immersive stage production Light of China: The Flame of Civilisation, Spring Warmth in the Apricot Grove, produced under the supervision of Jia Zhangke; the stage adaptation of Ma Boyong’s novel The Longest Day in Chang’an; the CCTV-produced stage drama Northbound and Southbound; and stage adaptations of the original film and television properties Ocean Heaven, Where Are We Going, Dad? and The Outcast.

CUI Xiaodong teaches in the Department of Stage Design at the Central Academy of Drama. A costume designer for theatre, film and television, he is a member of the International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians (OISTAT), Deputy Director of the China Association of Makeup Artists, a guest professor at Beijing Dance Academy, and a member of the China Institute of Stage Design.

He has contributed to the creation of more than 100 stage and screen productions across a wide range of genres, including dance dramas, operas, plays, musicals, films, television series and cultural tourism performances. He has also participated in the creation of numerous major national events, and his work has received several prestigious national awards, including the “Five-One Project” Award, the Wenhua Award and the Lotus Award.

SUN Xiaohong is a character styling designer for theatre, film and television, a professor and doctoral supervisor in the Department of Stage Design at the Central Academy of Drama, a committee member of the International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians (OISTAT), and a member of the China Film and Television Technology Committee.

Her recent works have received considerable recognition at home and abroad. The dance drama Splendid as a Song won the Outstanding Production Award at the 17^th Yunnan Provincial New Theatre Productions Showcase. The original ballet The Lily received nominations for Best Choreography and Best Male and Female Performers at the 33^rd Benois de la Danse Awards in Russia. The dance film The Divine Beast That Tames the Waters was selected for the official short-film programme of the 43^rd International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA). The original musical Home won the Best Original Musical Film Award at the Chinese-Language Film Summit of the eighth Miami International Film Festival and Golden Lighthouse Film Festival, as well as Best Director and the Special Jury RM Award at the 52^nd Houston International Film Festival, among 17 awards received internationally and in China. The dance drama Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly received an innovation award in the Fringe programme of the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She has also received the Outstanding Organisation Award at the 12^th Exchange Programme of the China Alliance of Higher Theatre Education and the 6^th University Student Theatre Showcase.

Selected works include the ballets The Lily and Homeland; the dance dramas The Flowers of War, Splendid as a Song, Joy and Everlasting Song and Impressions of Jingchu; the dramas Hamlet, All Rivers Flow East and Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly; the operas Carmen, YUE Fei and The Magic Flute; the musical Home; the Qinqiang opera A Woman of Strength; the Kunqu opera Mr. LI Pei; the large-scale poetic multimedia production Searching for Her in the Crowd; and the short films Tiger's Roar, Dragon Dance and The Auspicious Spirit of the Snake, among others.

A graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, LIU Zhao currently works as a stage and lighting designer with the National Ballet of China. He is also a member of the Lighting Committee of the China Institute of Stage Design.

In his stage visual creations, LIU incorporates the concept of “literary stage imagery,” using a distinctive approach to lighting to integrate the language of light with the theatrical space. He strives to create a seamless unity between visual space and stage action, transforming abstract emotions into tangible visual experiences and allowing audiences to perceive shifts in the emotional landscape of a production through changes in light and imagery.

His work has been praised for its intangible yet powerful visual impact, its evocation of the Eastern aesthetic ideal of qiyun shengdong (vitality and spiritual resonance), its expressive use of suggestion and negative space, and its cinematic and psychologically nuanced treatment of light and shadow.

Selected ballet works include The Four Seasons, Dunhuang, Blooming Like a Flower, Yimeng, Flying Against the Wind, The Nine-Coloured Deer, La Bayadère, Jewels, Romeo and Juliet, The Century and Dream of the Red Chamber.

Beyond ballet, LIU’s stage design spans a wide range of genres. He has collaborated with renowned directors and choreographers from China and abroad on numerous productions, including plays, contemporary dance, musicals and traditional Chinese opera. His selected works in these genres include Burning, NIU Tianci, Rickshaw Boy, The Alcoholic, The Prairie Heroine Sisters, Sparkling Red Star, The Plum Blossom Painting, Swallows in the Rain, Creation of the Heavens and the Earth and Qiuci.

A graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, CHAO Yi studied under Professors FENG Dezhong, HU Yaohui and XIAO Lihe. He is a resident stage and lighting designer at the China National Opera House and holds the title of Associate Senior Stage Designer. He is a member of the China Theatre Association, the China Institute of Stage Design, the China Illuminating Engineering Society and the China Musical Theatre Association.

His work spans a wide range of artistic productions, including theatre performances, galas, television programmes, large-scale immersive cultural tourism productions and urban architectural lighting projects. Among these are works that have received prestigious national awards or been invited to appear at renowned international arts festivals.

In recognition of his achievements, CHAO was named one of the China Institute of Stage Design’s Top Ten Stage Design Figures of the Year in 2015 and received the Outstanding Young and Mid-Career Lighting Designer Award at the Third China Stage Design Exhibition. He was also appointed by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism as a visiting expert to deliver lectures in Egypt, where he received an honorary certificate as an officially appointed expert from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. In addition, he has served as an instructor for the National Arts Fund’s 2017 programme for the training of opera directors.

HU Tianji graduated from the Mural Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2001. In 2003, he went to France for further studies and graduated from the LISAA School of Animation in 2006. After returning to China, he founded Zhengyue Image Studio, specialising in the design and production of multimedia visuals for stage productions by numerous Chinese theatre companies and renowned directors. He has since completed the visual production work for hundreds of stage productions.

Since August 2008, many of the productions he has worked on have received prestigious awards, including the Wenhua Award, the “Five-One Project” Award and the Lotus Award.

Selected works include the plays In the Name of the People, Red and White Roses, Special Amnesty, The Red Starting Point, Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony and Literature and Art During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression; the operas The Long March, On the Road to Poverty Alleviation, Red River Valley and The River of Fortune; the dance dramas Awakening Lion, Red Flag, Five Stars Rising in the East and The Ultimate Test; the musicals Flowers and Buglers, Love in the Memory of Alzheimer’s, Deep in the Wetlands and The Disguiser; and the large-scale outdoor productions Reawakening the Classic of Mountains and Seas and Dreams Immersed in Shuitingmen.

Hu has also served as chief video designer for numerous major cultural galas, including the 2019 theatrical gala organised by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Theatre Association to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China; the 2019 gala celebrating the 20^th anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland; and the 2023 Northern Shaanxi Folk Song Concert presented by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

ZHAO Bo is a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and a first-class composer. He was selected for the National Special Support Programme for High-Level Talents as an Outstanding Young Talent. He graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music, where he studied under Professors Hao Weiya and Guan Peng. His works have received prestigious national awards, including the “Five-One Project” Award, the Wenhua Award and the Lotus Award.

Selected works include Beginning of Spring, featured in the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics; Misty Rain Over Jiangnan, featured in the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games; the ethnic dance dramas Dream of the Red Chamber and The Peony Pavilion; and the dance work Bay.

HE Biao is a sound designer and audio engineer. He serves as Deputy Director of the Live Sound and Reinforcement Committee of the China Association of Recording Engineers and is a member of the Technical Experts Committee of the China Association of Performing Arts.

As a sound designer, he has worked on numerous major events, including the opening ceremony of the China–Russia Year of Culture and a special concert celebrating the 75^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Russia; a concert celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China; the cultural performance at the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation; the welcome banquet performance at the Great Hall of the People during the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation; the opening and closing ceremonies of the 19^th Asian Games and the 4^th Asian Para Games in Hangzhou; the cultural performance Journeying Together at the China–Central Asia Summit, held as part of the Year of Culture and Arts between China and Central Asian Countries; the opening ceremony of the China–Central Asia Youth Arts Festival; the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games; and A Great Journey, a cultural performance celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

He has also served as sound designer for concerts by numerous renowned Chinese and international vocalists and singers, as well as a variety of music television programmes. Through tours with performance groups in the United States, Germany and other countries, he has gained extensive experience with leading international sound equipment and advanced digital mixing technologies.

WANG Weijun currently works at the NCPA, where he has contributed to prop-related work for more than 80 productions, including operas, plays, dance dramas and musicals.

He has served as props designer for NCPA productions such as LIN Zexu, A Village Teacher, Tosca, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Zhongdu of the Jin Dynasty. He has also worked as props coordinator on productions including The Crossroad, Romeo and Juliet and Returning Home on a Snowy Night.

His major credits include A Millennium Promise, a cultural performance for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation; Growing Up with My Motherland, a 2019 International Children’s Day special; and the operas Turandot, The Flying Dutchman, The Long March, Snow White, A Lifelong Journey and Azalea. He has also worked on Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Siegfried, the first three operas in Wagner’s Ring cycle.