Ode to Peking Opera in spring

In 2017, the company revived three classic Peking Opera pieces, including You Sisters in the Red Chamber - a story from Dream of the Red Chamber by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) writer Cao Xueqin; The Legend of the White Snake and Zhu Hen Ji.

These three newly-choreographed pieces will be staged from April 12 to 16.

Meanwhile, Song says that the two-week event has been expanded to more than a month this year to offer audiences more shows, as well as to give young Peking Opera artists a platform to display their skills.

"We've selected eight top young artists from our company to perform at the event. These actors, in their 20s and 30s, are taking the responsibility of keeping the tradition alive," says Song.

One of the young actors is Guo Fanjia, who will play the lead role in the contemporary Peking Opera piece, Daughter of the Party, which premiered in 2016, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Long March, a strategic operation undertaken over 1934-36 by China's Red Army.

In the piece, Guo, who graduated from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and now focuses on doing dan (female) roles, plays Guiying.