This undated photo shows Xuanzang and the Queen of the Women's Nation.

China's first large acrobatic play, the Monkey King, a.k.a Journey to the West, will be staged at the 8th China Art Festival in the central Chinese city of Wuhan this weekend, the China News Service reported on Friday.

Presented by the Guangzhou Acrobatic Troupe, the show is directed by Chen Weiya, the assistant director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The play will be the only acrobatic -- and the largest overall -- performance of the art festival. More than 250 artists will perform all kinds of acrobatic feats, as well as dancing, puppet plays and kung fu.

According to Xu Bin, an official at the Guangzhou Culture Bureau, the play's production took about three years. It has had four different round in Guangzhou and the 56 total performances earned more than three million yuan (about US$400,000) at the box office.

(CRI November 16, 2007)