Younger audiences take interest in traditional Chinese opera

Young people are becoming increasingly interested in learning about traditional Chinese opera and the culture behind the art form via both online and offline channels.

White-collar worker Liu Xingxing, who was born after 1995, became attracted by the more than 200-year-old Peking Opera as a child.

Due to the influence of his grandmother, a devotee of the Peking Opera, Liu has been fascinated ever since.

Liu claimed that Shi Yihong, one of China's most renowned Peking Opera performers, was the first Peking Opera performance he saw in 2019. His excellent performance left a lasting impression on him.

"Watching the performance on the television is really different from watching it in the theater. It's beautiful and shocking. I fell in love with it once I saw it."

For young people who have not been exposed to traditional Chinese opera, "watching opera" is a novel experience. In July, a group of college students took part in an activity that taught them about the Liuzi Opera, which is popular in Shandong and Henan provinces, as well as northern Jiangsu, southern Hebei and northern Anhui. The witty plots, humorous dialogues, novel character settings and freestyle performances by the actors are very entertaining for students.

Jiang Qingpeng, head of the Shandong Peking Opera Theatre, said that more and more young people are showing interest in traditional operas, and Shandong Peking Opera Theatre has launched activities to invite college students to meet and hang out with the performers behind the scenes.

In recent years, Shandong has launched more and more innovative ways to make traditional operas popular among young people, which is a great way to further promote traditional Chinese operas.

Shandong Peking Opera Theatre launches activities for college students to meet and hang out with performers behind the scenes. [Photo/Dazhong News]