This is one of my favorite Cantonese operas. The story setting was at the beginning of the 12th century, when the Chinese Song Court was defeated in its battles against the Yuan forces(Northern barbarians) and fled south. The Emperor Duzong of the new Southern Song Dynasty settled his court in Hangzhou. He appointed Ka Chi-to as Prime Minister, who turned out to be corrupt, traitorous and pleasure loving. Ka Chi-to ignored the ceaseless trangressions by the Yuan Empire into what was left of the Chinese territories and spent most of his time cruising the scenic Xi Hu(West Lake) with his favorite concubines.

This is a timeless love story. It tells of a love so profound that it transcends even death. Teresa Ng 2003