Peking Opera

Peking opera of China is a national treasure with a history of 200 years. Originally a form of local theatre, it spread all over the country and has become the national opera of China with its elaborate costumes, ear-splitting arias, dazzling martial arts and musical dialogue. 

Most Peking Operas are unintellingible to the untrained viewer, but they are usually based on folk tales, famous novels and fairy tales and are a pleasure to watch if you know the basic story. Some of the bigger theaters have subtitle message boards in English and Chinese so even if you don't know the story you can still follow along. 

Peking Opera combines stylized acting with singing, dancing, musical dialogue, martial arts, colorful facial make up and fantastic costumes.
Each role, according to their sex, age and disposition, is characterized by different designs of facial make-up, such as jing representing a rough, frank character and hua lian representing a cruel or sinister character.So the audience can easily tell what kind of characters the actors are portraying. Facial make-up, costumes and head - dresses are wonderful works of traditional art. 

Characters are classified into three basic categories: the male roles, called "sheng",females roles or "dan",and clowns or "chou", the nature of each character is shown through the different colors of the facial makeup. For example, red usually means evil or sly, and black and white face makeup denotes authority. The fantastic silk costumes are works of art in themselves. You can get a good taste of what Peking Opera is all about at the Liyuan Theater in the Qianmen Hotel, Chang'an Theater, Huguang Guildhall, which features nightly performances that are a medley of different operas. The shows are light on the singing and concentrate more on action like tumbling and martial arts and are therefore more foreigner-friendly.  In the past, both dan and sheng roles were played by male actors, but now they are played separately by females and males. It is a must to see a Peking Opera while you are in Beijing, equivalent to seeing an opera if you go to Italy.

There are also some other types of operas staged in Beijing, such as Kunqu Opera, Pingju Opera and Hebei Bangzi as well as other operas from different places.

Puppet show in China dates back to two thousand years ago, and the most of the shows today still based on folk tales and the like. It doesn't matter whether you know Chinese or not; you could enjoy the shows as well by just watching the fighting and dancing.

Puppet shows are attractive both to children and to grownups.Puppetry combines the different art forms of drama, singing, dancing, music, painting and sculpture. Its beautiful consumers, its rolling eyes, deft fingers, moving lips, except its size, a puppet looks like real. But it's not. It has to rely on sticks or strings. There is another kind puppet called glove puppet (Bu Dai Mu'ou), which is like a glove covering on your hand, in the form of a little person or an animal.

There are shadow puppet shows as well as marionette type puppets. The main keepers of the ancient art of puppetry are the members of the China Puppet Show Artistic Troupe.

Chinese acrobatics has a long history and is one of the most popular art forms among Chinese people. It has got a world-wide fame for its wonderful skills and marvelous acts.The usual tourist reaction to a Chinese acrobatics show is something like "whoa! that was so...." You are not sure what to say. The contortions and balancing acts are quite incredible and sometimes seem almost superhuman, or super rubber human. You will be at the edge of your seat through most of the show saying "don't fall, don't drop it!" And incredibly, they never do.

Wansheng Theatre is the special place for the performances of Beijing Acrobatic Troupe in Xuanwu District. The performances of this troupe have gained many national and international prizes, such as Little Diabolo Girls, Morning Exercise, and it puts on performances at 7:15 every night.

In Chaoyang District, there is another famous theatre, Chaoyang Theatre where you could see acrobatics and other programs of entertainment. It opens at 7:15, too.

Founded in1951, the Central Symphony Orchestra is one of the few orchestras which can offer a full repertoire from George F. Handel to Peter Tchaikovsky. The orchestra performs symphony concerts in Beijing Concert Hall every week. In addition, the Beijing Symphony Orchestra is a rising star in the field of western music. There are now several special orchestras and chamber groups (i.e. the Youth Symphony and the China All-Women Orchestra), which offer a rich variety of classical western music. The Beijing Concert Hall holds many world-level concerts all year round. For listings, dial 6605-7006.

Foreign visitors may be surprised to find that they can find the Sleeping Beauty, Madame Butterfly or Carmen in Beijing. The Central Ballet and Opera Theater is renowned for the quality and talent of its ballet dancers, its symphony orchestra and Western opera shows. The Central Ballet Troupe of China has put on some classical performances many times, like The Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty. Besides classical ballet show, they also pay attention to new ballet shows of all schools. The Chinese-edition-Nutcracker was put on in December, 2001. They also show the life of Chinese people by the form of ballet. Italian operas could also be enjoyed in Beijing. The China Opera Theater is another well-known art troupe who puts on Chinese operas with a mixed singing method of Italian bel canto and traditional Chinese singing.

There are a couple of national-class troupes that perform music and dance from various parts of China. In recent years, overseas visitors have been impressed by the Royal Song and Dance performed by the Beijing Song and Dance Troupe.

Modern Chinese Drama(HuaJu) with only a 70-year history began in early this century and soon attracted large numbers of fans because of its realistic contents of daily life of common people and its wide range of western works by Shakespeare, Moliere and Chekhov.   

Chinese playwrights have created many plays about the changing life before and after the foundation of New China. The most memorable ones are Thunderstorm (Lei Yu), Teahouse (Cha Guan), The Family (Jia) and The Peking Man (Bei Jing Ren) etc. There are still new ones coming continually reflecting the life of China today.

In Beijing the People' Art Theatre is the most famous one to watch a drama show.This theater puts on plays based on ancient Chinese stories as well as Chinese adaptations of Western drama. The Experimental Theater in Mao'er Hutong is also an excellent place to watch plays. Today drama theaters have many difficulties in developing, because more young people become to be fans of pop music and masses of TV programs.

Big hotels usually provide night spots for your entertainment. They mainly open at 8-9 p.m. and close at midnight-3 a.m. All charge admission.

Tea is a Chinese traditional drink, like coffee in Western countries. Teahouse used to be public places where people came to relax, enjoy tea, talk about their business, kill their time, exchange information, or listen to ballads or story-telling. They equate, to some extent, to pubs on the West. Teahouse disappeared for about two decades when they were regarded as places for idle people who did not want to work. 

Now a few traditional teahouses are open, mainly for tourists to enjoy the experience of traditional Chinese teahouse. They are open every night, but you have to book a table beforehand since they are very crowded. The teahouse is set with hardwood tables and a stage at one end. Customers are served various snacks and tea from copper pots with long spouts while traditional performances are staged. It is a really good experience if you can find time to fit it into your busy schedule.