Promotional material for Monument to the People's Heroes Photo: Courtesy of Xiao Yifei

A new modern adaptation of traditional Chinese Bangzi opera Monument to the People's Heroes was staged at Beijing's Minzu Theater on Thursday as part of the Beijing Hebei Bangzi Troupe's celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. 

Setting in the spring of 1952, the drama follows a group of stone carvers from North China's Hebei Province who have been assembled to work on the construction of China's landmark Monument to the People's Heroes. 

According to the theater, the show aims to get audience's thinking about the Monument to the People's Heroes and the heros it depicts.  

A major opera style in North China, Bangzi Opera, which dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), sees musicians keep the beat with a pair of wooden clappers as performers sing. 

Hebei Bangzi in particular was listed as one of China's national-level intangible cultural heritages in 2006.