Cultural tips

Peking Opera

Chinese opera has a long history. Local operas in China have undergone continuous evolvement for a long period, during which more than 360 various styles have survived. Peking Opera is the most influential of all the operas. Peking Opera is one of the four pillars of Chinese culture.

Peking Opera has a history of more than 200 years. It was once called "Pingju" or "Guoju". In its development process, it has adopted some plays, melodies, and playing styles from Kungqu opera (based in Kunqiang melodies, popular in southern Jiangsu, Beijing and Hebei) and Shaanxi opera (popular in China's northwestern provinces). It has also absorbed some other folk melodies to become an opera completely unique in itself.

There are four main roles in Beijing Opera: Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou. "Sheng" are the leading male actors. "Dan" is the female role. "Jing", mostly male, are the face-painted actors who represent warriors, heroes, statesmen, adventurers and demons. "Chou" refers to clowns who have white patches on their noses. Most of the time Chous are witty, alert and humorous.

During the development of Beijing Opera many famous artists have emerged. Artist Mei Langfang is considered to be on the most important contributors to Beijing Opera. Mei Lanfang was the first artist to introduce Beijing Opera to the world. Throughout his life he made outstanding contributions in promoting cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. Chinese theatre cultivated by Mei Langfang is now recognized as one of the world's three most important performing arts.