A promotional caravan of "Turandot" has started touring in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. [Star Daily]

"We plan to make Turandot a domestic princess-themed franchise,” said Ye Xun, president of the opera's marketing agency Haosi International, at a press conference on Saturday in Beijing.

Tickets of the Zhang Yimou production, which will be staged on October 6 and 7 at the Bird's Nest in Beijing, went on sale the same day, with a promotional caravan starting its tour in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.

Investment on the project reaches 1200 million yuan, or about 180 million US dollars, according to Ye Xun.

"We would like to make Turandot a high-end cultural brand like Disney," he said. "We intend to produce musicals, cartoons, television series, and publications or even set up a theme park."

A musical drama entitled "Chinese Princess" is scheduled to be staged in February 2010, Ye said.

A world tour of Turandot is set to hit Olympic host cities such as London and Paris in the following years, Ye was quoted as saying.

(CRI August 3, 2009)