The famous painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival depicting in great details the economy, culture, and customs of the Northern Song dynasty almost a thousand years ago nowadays is choreographed into a folk dance by several veteran Hong Kong artists. The creative dance performance displays the prosperity of the ancient capital city with an modern expression.

During the Song Dynasty, dance trickled its way down from the imperial palace to the common man, spurring the art form on toward its golden age. The dance drama Along the River during the Qingming Festival rests on the foundation of Chinese traditional culture, bringing together a rich array of Central Plains dance culture as source material. Rather than using a traditional story line, it is made up of eighteen poetic chapters, using a unique "freehand" style to portray the rich and multi-faceted life along the Bianhe River during the Northern Song Dynasty. A myriad of dance forms along with a real sense of modern art bring life to traditional folk dance, invoking musings on the ancient past, leading the audience—following the dancers' steps—into a dazzlingly and flourishing age.

This performance will be staged from July 16 to 17 at National Centre for Performing Arts.

The historical dance drama Along the River during the Qingming Festival was first performed as a gift in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the Mainland in July of 2007, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. Following, during November and December of the same year, the production made its way to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing, including performances at the "Shanghai Creative Industry Activity Week" and "The Fifth Beijing International Dance Season".