Voices from the two sessions

Modern, well-equipped opera houses and concert halls have mushroomed all over China in recent years, even in third-or fourth-tier cities. The scenario astonishes me because we lacked high-quality performance spaces for a long time. However, they shouldn't just be big warehouses. They need more premier-level performances in the future, so we should organize more touring performances around the country to meet people's thirst for culture.

Tan Lihua, musical director and principal conductor of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

The establishment of a public cultural services system should narrow the gap between the urban and rural areas, and acknowledge the unique situations in areas inhabited by non-Han ethnic groups and also in the poorer regions. We should devise more policies to reflect public interest and fairness, and to stop big cities monopolizing cultural events. Some remote areas are full of folklore and intangible cultural heritage which should be better displayed in other parts of the country. In that way, these areas would learn to survive by their own efforts and through the creative ideas and expertise brought by high-level cultural institutions, rather than just through financial support.