The popular love story "Under the Hawthorn Tree" has been made into a play by director Tian Qinxin, whose last theater work "Romeo and Juliet" won critical acclaim in Hong Kong and the mainland.

A tragic romance is being staged at Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts. The popular love story "Under the Hawthorn Tree" has been made into a play by director Tian Qinxin, whose last theater work "Romeo and Juliet" won critical acclaim in Hong Kong and the mainland.

The tragic love that happens under the hawthorn tree has touched audiences with its warm romance and innocence.

Hailed as the purest love story ever created, 'Under the Hawthorn Tree" was once made into a film by director Zhang Yimou. Director Tian Qinxin also wants to give it a try.

"Innocence and love is the spiritual pursuit for every human being. The story of 'Under the Hawthorn Tree' is very pure and extreme to me. So I let the two young actors keep running on the stage from beginning to end. It's an abstract way to realize the dream of love and innocence for everyone," Tian said.

The story was first published in 2007 and soon sold more than 4 million copies. To depict the young love, the director has given the leading roles to two actors born in the 1990s. The heroine is played by Yang Caiqi, a 15-year-old girl that rose to fame by spinning for more than 4 hours nonstop at the 2014 CCTV Spring Festival Gala. But brought up in a professional dancing family, the young girl has never been on a theater stage, let alone played a leading role.

"I'm very nervous on stage. The most difficult part for me is the end, when I have to shout my name again and again at the bedside of Lao San, who is dying," Yang said.

"In the rehearsal, I couldn't get into the character. But somehow later, I shed tears and really felt for Lao San while performing. Then I had confidence in myself."

Yang Liping, the young girl's aunt, is a famous dance master who came to the theater to cheer for her niece.

The 75-minute play will be staged in Beijing for a week, before a 100-performance tour around China.

The tragic love that happens under the hawthorn tree has touched audiences with its warm romance and innocence.

The heroine is played by Yang Caiqi, a 15-year-old girl that rose to fame by spinning for over 4 hours nonstop at the 2014 CCTV Spring Festival Gala.

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