Poster for an art exhibition on the Peking opera in the Lujiazui Financial City in Pudong New District of Shanghai, Nov 2-11 [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Lujiazui Financial City in the Pudong New District of the city of Shanghai is having an exhibit of Peking opera, Nov 2-11, to show evolution of the opera to local office workers to give them a better understanding of traditional Chinese opera.

Sponsors of the event are the Lujiazui management, Shanghai Culture and Arts Archives, Shanghai Jinju Theatre Co, and Shanghai World Financial Center, which held an opening ceremony at the Shanghai World Financial Center, on Nov 2, where members of the Shanghai Jinju Theatre Co demonstrated the four major opera characters – Sheng (male), Dan (female), Jing (painted-face male) and Chou (comedic male) – through performances to give local people a taste of traditional opera close-up.

The organizers say that the exhibits contain playbills from theatres before 1949, such as the Gold Grand Theater; film records of Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), one of the most talented Peking opera artists; and a large red curtain used for Peking opera performances, with traditional flower embroidery and symbols of happiness and auspiciousness.

They explain that they want to promote traditional Chinese opera among local people to enrich their cultural lives as well as help them relax and get away from work pressures and enjoy a slower pace of life.