Forgotten opera gem restored

Mei Yu Pei will display Ma Yuqi's collection of Peking Opera costumes and accessories, which Ma says will take audience back 100 years.

Living in the outskirts of Beijing, Ma, who has never married, has a simple lifestyle, eating basic meals and wearing plain clothes. Besides his devotion to Peking Opera, he also spends a lot of time taking care of homeless cats and dogs.

He says there are many popular TV series about the Qing Dynasty. However, some of the historical details are inaccurate, such as the customs of bowing, greeting and even walking.

"Traditional Chinese culture has been destroyed by bad-quality television, which just wants to entertain the audience and ignore the real history and culture. I want to try my best to convey correct information about traditional Chinese culture," he says.

According to Liu Xinran, artistic director of Zhengyici Theater, who is also a student of Ma, Mei Yu Pei will be a highlight of the ongoing performance season, which runs through May.

"When I invited Ma to the theater, he fell in love with the place instantly. He told me that the atmosphere of the theater matches so well with Mei Yu Pei. We believe that both the theater and the classic Peking Opera work will be reborn together," says Liu, who came to work at the theater in 2010, ahead of its reopening.