A scene is played out from the world-renowned opera Carmen. [Photo/WeChat account: qdweishinan]

French composer Georges Bizet's world-renowned opera Carmen was staged on June 19 at the Hisense Plaza in the Shinan district of Qingdao city – located in China's East Shandong province – to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the shopping mall.

Singers from the China National Opera House gathered in Qingdao to present the work, which ever since its composition in 1875 has been universally lauded as a masterpiece.

The four-act opera – the last work of the great composer – tells the tragic love story of the gypsy girl Carmen and a soldier, Don Jose, set in the early 19th century.

Shinan, at the center of Qingdao, is growing as a modern, fashionable and international district – with the emphasis on developing fashion-related commerce and culture, among other things, during the course of the 14th Five Year Plan (2021-25).

In the wake of the expansion of the Hisense Plaza, plans are to introduce international first-class brands and build an international exhibition center to boost the leisure and entertainment sector there.