China is renowned for its many attractions and night time entertainment. While you’re on your china travel why not absorb the eccentric and enjoy the stylish and elegant Peking Opera shows. China boasts more than 360 regional styles of opera. These ancient forms of drama are still active on China’s stages today and can access the theatres from your Beijing Hotels.
Peking Opera
A regional opera is usually popular in several provinces, while one province enjoys several local operas. This opera is known as the national opera of China, Peking (Beijing). Opera is the most influential and representative of all the operas in China, and one of the three main theatrical systems in the world. The characteristics of Peking (Beijing) Opera is a blend of music, dance, art, acrobatics and martial arts. With its beautiful paintings, exquisite costumes, and graceful gestures, Peking is a developed art system. The design of the Opera is filled with many aspects of the Chinese culture presenting the audience with an encyclopedia of Chinese culture. The repertoire includes historical plays, comedies, tragedies and farces. Many historical events are adapted into the plays, which in the past were an important primer on history and ethical principles for poorly educated common people.
Music
The Peking (Beijing) Opera features an orchestral and percussion band. There former frequently accompanies peaceful scenes while the latter provides the right atmosphere for battle scenes. The commonly used percussion instruments include castantets, drums, bells and cymbals. The orchestral instruments include the Erhu, Huqin, Yueqin, reed pipe, and lute. The band usually sits on the left side of the stage. It works together with the actors to add just the right mood to go along with the action on stage.
Roles
Many of the roles have a particular identity when on stage so that they are easily recognizable as soon as the characters appear on stage. Traditionally in China, women were forbidden to enter theatres, so all Peking (Beijing) Opera characters were performed by men. But now, women enjoy equal rights with men on stage, and more women are appearing on the Opera stage than ever before.
The character in Peking (Beijing) Opera are divided into four types of roles:
- Sheng (the positive male role
- Dan (the positive female role)
- Jing (a supporting a male role)
- Chou (the clown or a negative character)
Peking opera stage
Performance skills
The main performing skills of Peking (Beijing) Opera consist of singing, speaking, acting and martial arts. The operatic dialogues and monologues are recited in Beijing dialect, and some of the words are pronounced in a special fashion, unique to Peking (Beijing) opera.
Performers, in addition to singing, use well-established movements, such as smoothing a beard, adjusting a hat, jerking a sleeve, or raising a foot, to express certain emotions.
Liyuan Theatre – Beijing
You can visit Peking (Beijing) Opera as a featured guided tour. It is an essential part of Chinese culture, and something not to be missed. The best place in China to enjoy Peking (Beijing ) Opera is Beijing’s Liyuan Theatre. Located in the Qianmen Jianguo Hotel in Beijing, Liyuan Theatre is the most prestigious performance venue for Peking (Beijing) Opera. The shows performances are every night, some of China’s foremost actors and actresses perform, and after the show, the audience members are allowed to visit their dressing rooms if they feel it’s appropriate.
- 18:30 Pick – up from your hotel and transfer to the theatre
- 19.30 Show Begins
- 21.15 Show ends and then transfer back to your hotel
Peking Beijing most famous operas:
- Farewell to concubine
- Havoc in Heaven
- The crossroad
- Picking up a Jade bracelet
- The Drunken Concubine
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