SAN JOSE—Nicholas Bateman saw Shen Yun Performing Arts with his eight-year-old daughter at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 30, and both father and daughter were impressed with the arts company’s display of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.

“It’s amazing,” Mr. Bateman said. “And for my eight-year-old daughter, this is a great experience. I was telling her that this is like gold for her mind; it’s a beautiful experience for an eight-year-old girl.”

For five millennia, China was a spiritual land heavily influenced by Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. But when the Chinese communist regime took power in 1949, it set about destroying China’s connection to its past, launching violent revolutions roughly every decade.

Shen Yun’s artists had fled religious persecution in China, settling in New York to form Shen Yun in 2006.

“Thank you so much for bringing this culture to the U.S. Thank you,” he said he wanted to tell them.

“Very fun, fun,” Mr. Bateman said. “When they go into the screen and come out, that is very fun.”

“Amazing, an amazing experience,” he said.