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Beijing

Remembering Cao on stage

Original Chinese musical Cao Xueqin will be staged in Beijing to commemorate the great writer from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), who wrote the fourth and final of China's four classic novels, A Dream of Red Mansions. The musical will chronicle Cao's life story. Born into a noble family in Nanjing, Cao finally settled in Beijing after his family's decline. During his life in Beijing, he finished the novel. The musical will also portray how Cao wrote the novel in his late years.