Twenty-seven-year-old Beijing resident Gao Yu said she would not bother to travel in her National Day vacation but chose to stay at home.

"Staying in Beijing, I will have fun as well," she said. "There are so many choices. There are movies to see, exhibitions to visit, and I also want to go to the Flower Expo in Shunyi."

This year's National Day holiday concurs with Chinese traditional Mid-Autumn Festival which fell on October 3. This brings Chinese an eight-day break, from October 1 to 8, from their routine work.

A variety of performances are available for residents in the Chinese capital during the holiday.

Zhang Yimou, director of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games last year, will present the opera "Turandot" in China's iconic National Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest", next Tuesday and Wednesday. Famous Italian conductor Janos Acs will lead the orchestra for the opera.

Zhang promised to put on stage something different from the same opera under his direction performed 11 years ago at the Forbidden City in Beijing. He said that the new edition would be amore modern one.

The four-day-long Modern Sky Music Festival opened in the Chaoyang Park on Sunday, presenting such popular Chinese rock bands such as "Second Hand Rose" and "New Pants".

San Francisco Ballet (SFB) toured Beijing for the first time at the beginning of the vacation. With its China-born principal dancer Tan Yuanyuan, SFB performed ballet "Swan Lake" in Beijing Poly Theater.

China's Central National Orchestra staged a traditional Chinese folk music show in the National Center for the Performing Arts. It played its classic repertoire such as "Moon-lit night on the Spring River", a famous Chinese music piece with a history of more than a hundred years, to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Day.

Peking opera fans were happy to see the opera "Mu Guiying Taking Command" in Mei Lanfang Theatre. The opera is about a well-known story in China that heroine Mu Guiying in Song Dynasty, about 1,000 years ago, led the army and fought against invaders.

Gao went to see a play in the Experimental Theater of Beijing People's Art Theater. The unique settings of the theater brought about refreshing feeling. "There were times that the actors came right in front of you and performed, or the sound mixer rushed to the stage for a guest appearance. Interesting," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 5, 2009)