September 18th is the Azerbaijan National Music Festival. On September 14th, the Confucius Institute at the University of Azerbaijan Language and Culture held an online Chinese story workshop about the comedy opera "The Gutterman and the Lady" ("Аршин мал алан") to commemorate the 135th birthday of Uzeyir Hajibeyov (1885—1948), the founder of modern professional music in Azerbaijan.

The invited speaker, the curator of the Azerbaijan National Museum of Music and Culture introduced in detail the life and deeds of this outstanding Azerbaijani composer, educator, music scholar, and social activist. When talking about the history of the relationship between Azerbaijan and China in the field of theater and art, Rafik, the foreign dean of the Confucius Institute, mentioned that "The Gutterman and the Lady" was widely praised in China. In 1959, it was first performed in Chinese at the Tianqiao Theater in Beijing, becoming the first foreign opera performed in the Chinese capital.

In 2010, the Chinese version of "The Gutterman and the Lady" performed by the Azerbaijan National Opera and Ballet Theater and the China Central Opera House was put on the stage again in the Tianqiao Theater and nearly 300 performances have been completed in major cities across the country. According to Chairman Mao’s instructions, the Chinese version of the movie "The Gutterman and the Lady" was filmed in China, along with its Chinese recordings released.

Students present who major in Chinese talked about the history of the opera, the process of its first performance and how it won its world-renowned reputation. Later, the opera was recognized as the first opera in the Muslim East.