A traditional poetry reading event is taking place on Friday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to celebrate the New Year.

The "Concert of Poems from Tang/Song Dynasty" brings audience members an acoustic enjoyment, taking them on a poetic journey.

The concert was launched in 1999, and during the past 20 years, the event has toured different Chinese cities and staged several hundreds of performances.

A number of Chinese composers, such as Gu Guanren, Ye Xiaogang, Mo Fan and Zhao Jiping joined hands to produce music for the concert. Meanwhile, a number of actors are lending their voices to the event, including Qiao Zhen, Zhang Kaili, Xiao Xiong, Lyu Zhong and Song Chunli.

The Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties were times of prosperity for Chinese literature and poems at the time were considered as national treasures. The poems selected for the evening cover such topics as natural scenery, romance, political ambitions, criticism of war and personal aspirations.

In recent years, China has put even more emphasis on classical literature education. In 2018, the Chinese Ministry of Education increased the content of ancient literature, especially classical poems in the syllabus of primary and middle school students.

The orchestra of China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater accompanies Friday's performance.