The Chengdu Sichuan Opera Troupe received the top award for its performance of The Legend of Red Blossoms at the Festival of Traditional Chinese Operas, which recently ended in Paris.

The festival organizers hailed the brilliant singing, performances and instrumentations as, "helping foreigners learn a moving story that happened in ancient China".

The Legend of Red Blossoms, written more than 400 years ago by playwright Zhou Zhaojun, tells the story of Li Huiniang, whom the Southern Song Dynasty's prime minister wants as a concubine.

But Li falls in love at first sight with a young scholar. The prime minister becomes so angry that he kills Li and persecutes the scholar. Li's ghost saves the scholar.