Chinese Opera

Chinese opera has long history which can be traced back to Qin dynasty about 2200 year ago. However, the opera become mature till Yuan and Song Dynasty about 1000 years ago. During Qing Dynasty, there were hundreds of various operas in different places. Peking opera from south went to Beijing and played for the royal family successfully in 1790, that was the beginning the modern opera. During Republic China, there were four actors of Peking opera that were well-known in Beijing, they were Yang, Mei, Shang and Cheng.
There are also Yue opera in Shanghai, Zheijiang and Jiangsu Province; canton opera in Canton and Hong Kong, Yu opera in Henan province etc.
Chinese opera but is different from western one, which creates a simple stage to mimic the whole world, a whip representing a horse, a table simplifying a house… Face-painting is a unique part Chinese opera, different face tells man, woman, official, minister, emperor, etc. Kungfu is the key part of Chinese opera as well. The actors start to learn Kungfu since they are very young so that they can play well on different instruments on the stage.
However, Chinese operas is similar to other traditional cultures in the world, fewer and fewer people are willing to learn and play it. Hopefully it will be surviving forever.
Please view Peking Opera link if you are willking to know more about Peking or Beijing Opera.