A PLA musical to honor heroic young woman

The musical Galiya is based on the real story of a heroic young woman in Suifenhe, Heilongjiang province, during World War II.  [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

A girl of Russian-Chinese descent is being described as "an angel of friendship and peace" in Suifenhe city of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province. Born in 1928 in Suifenhe, which is located on the country's border with Russia, Galiya Vasilievna Dubieva died during World War II at the age of 17.

The Performing Arts Company of PLA Air Force has produced a musical, titled Galiya, based on her story. Set in 1945, when the former Soviet Red Army joined the Chinese military to fight Japanese troops, the musical will premiere at the Great Hall of the People in October as part of programs marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The Japanese army had detained many Chinese women, children and elderly people at its base near Tianchang Mountain, and Dubieva, who also spoke Japanese, was sent by Russian and Chinese officials to persuade the Japanese troops to surrender. But she never returned from the Japanese station.

"Local archives show that Dubieva was not just multilingual, speaking Japanese, Chinese and Russian, but also good at singing. So, we chose a musical as a way to honor her and to send a message of peace," says Che Xing, a veteran scriptwriter for the performing company.

Che went to Suifenhe to collect material for the script last year. One of the most interesting stories he read about Dubieva, he says, was that of a new red handkerchief, which her Russian mother had put around her arm as a symbol of good luck before she left for the Japanese base.

Che also saw a photo of the girl and her brother, Zhang Shulie, kept in Suifenhe Museum.

"That's the only photo of Dubieva left. In it, she's wearing a long skirt and has braids in her hair. We borrowed the image for our musical," Che says.

A few years ago, a statue of Dubieva was placed at Suifenhe's Peace Square, with words inscribed from Russian President Vladimir Putin's letter to Suifenhe city in 2007 that said: "Sino-Russian friendship means mutual understanding, trust and common values and benefit. We will remember the past and look forward to the future."

Chinese songwriter Li Xin, who also works for the Performing Arts Company of PLA Air Force, says he wrote 15 songs for the musical, including My Home in China and The Direction of Home. He also helped develop the music for the dance pieces in Galiya, especially Russian folk dance.

Soprano Wang Li, 32, plays the role of the girl in the musical. Previously, Wang performed in Princess Wencheng, a musical based on the life a Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) royal, who spent three years traveling from Chang'an (present-day Xi'an in Shaanxi province) to Lhasa to marry the then-king of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo.

Wang also played the role of Jiang Jie, a Communist heroine of the country's civil war before New China was founded in 1949, in an operatic piece by the same name.

Wang lost about 15 kilograms and learned to speak both Japanese and Russian for the role of Dubieva.

"When we talked with local people in Suifenhe, we found out that almost everyone knew her story. Now we hope to tell it to a wider audience," she says.