Students perform on stage for villagers in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province. Photo: Xie Wenting/GT

The evening of July 29 was the first time that 71-year-old Liang Xiuying ever stepped into the big performance hall in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province. Along with 800 other Yan'an locals, Liang packed into the hall for this one-off showing from a culture tour organized by Shaanxi Provincial Department of Culture.

Once the hall was filled to maximum capacity, the talented amateur actors and actresses from Shaanxi Province delighted the transfixed audience with their performances of dance, singing, magic shows and theatrical skits.

"On the one hand, we organized the tour to give the locals more opportunities to embrace the good and traditional Shaanxi culture. On the other hand, it's a warm-up activity for the 11th China Art Festival in 2016," explained an official of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Culture who declined to be named.

Most of the works performed had been seen in the past at the Qunxing Award ceremony of the China Art Festival, an activity organized every three years by the Ministry of Culture to choose the best amateur performers from across the country.

The tour performers included merchants, policewomen, military officers and workers in local culture departments. They received between 100 yuan ($16) to 300 yuan payment for the two-day tour.

The performance that Liang viewed in Yan'an county that evening was the second stop of the tour which started on the morning of July 29 at Liangjiahe village, and concluded in Ansai county on July 30.

Shi Chunyang, an official of Liangjiahe village, was happy to see the villagers enjoy the show at an open playground behind an old shabby two-story building.

"The show enriches the villagers' leisure life," said Shi. "They like it and we are looking forward to seeing more of these activities in the future."

Liang was excited when she saw the dance performance My Teacher from the City, which depicts the story between students in a rural village and their teacher who comes from the city.

"I have never got the chance to see those works performed live before. At my age, my life has no leisure activities and just involves farming and raising children," said Liang.