On the evening of July 31, as the final pose held and the stage lights came up, the audience at the Andong Culture & Arts Center in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, rose to their feet in unison. The applause rang out for nearly ten minutes without fading.

The Shenzhen Opera & Dance Theater had just delivered the South Korean premiere of its original dance drama "Wing Chun." The production, which fuses martial arts with contemporary dance, captivated the more than 1,200 spectators in attendance.

"The stage, the dance, and the martial arts — they blend together so perfectly!" said an audience member from Andong after watching the premiere. The host city Andong is a spiritual birthplace of Korean Confucianism and is known as the "spiritual and cultural capital of Korea."

Last year, South Korea successfully hosted the APEC summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. This year, China will take up the APEC baton in Shenzhen — a city of innovation and openness. Though the performance has ended, the seeds of curiosity about Shenzhen have been quietly planted in the hearts of Korean audiences. "Through this dance drama, I learned about Shenzhen for the first time — I want to go and see it!" said an audience member who attended the premiere with her child.

"Wing Chun" is distinguished by its fusion of dance and martial arts, bringing two national-level intangible cultural heritage elements — Wing Chun kung fu and the dyeing technique of Xiangyunsha silk — onto the stage. Through a dual narrative that weaves together the legendary life of the martial arts master Ip Man and the dream-chasing journey of contemporary filmmakers, the production conveys the spiritual essence of China's fine traditional culture through the universal language of movement.

Since its premiere, "Wing Chun" has been performed 336 times in over 50 cities worldwide, with a total audience of approximately 460,000. The success of "Wing Chun" is the latest fruit of Shenzhen's thriving cultural ecosystem — often described as a "tropical rainforest" model.

After its South Korean run, "Wing Chun" will continue its global journey. The production plans to launch more international tour stops in the second half of 2026, targeting established performing arts markets in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.