The first-ever staging of Chun Yi, the Legend of Kungfu at the London Coliseum, in the famed theater district West End, has won over Western audiences with its combination of story-telling, dance, song and multi-media stage effects.

Director Ray Roderick says he tried to explain some of the philosophical elements in the story as "harmony in your heart".

"I believe kungfu is an attitude of life, a way of living and a balance inside people's hearts," the director said in his introduction to the show.

Unlike a typical Chinese show in a Western theater that gets hardly any attention, The Legend of Kungfu attracted big crowds.

More than 40 British media outfits covered the show, including the Times, BBC, Sky News and Daily Telegraph. British stage director Dewie Evans said it was the best Chinese show he had ever seen in West End. Chen Xiaodong of the Chinese Embassy in Britain said: "London is the center of Western drama. That the show was such a big success here means a good start for the spread of Chinese culture."

(China Daily August 4, 2009)