Beyond the Makeup: Exploring the Magic of Peking Opera

Peking Opera is the most iconic traditional drama in China, and it’s an art experience you can’t miss on your trip to Beijing. This guide will help you get to know the key features of Peking Opera so you can better appreciate this ancient and amazing art form while you’re in Beijing.

1. A feast of art

It perfectly blends various art elements like literature, music, dance, fine arts, martial arts, and acrobatics. In a Peking Opera performance, you’ll get to enjoy beautiful singing and spoken lines, along with incredible fight scenes, stunning costumes, and unique face painting.

2. Virtual performance art

One of the coolest things about it is its highly symbolic performance style. Actors use symbolic gestures and minimal props to let the audience imagine rich scenes and stories.

3. Structured performance norms

Peking Opera has strict performance rules, from singing and reciting to acting and stage combat, all governed by a complete system of standards.

4. Showcase of amazing skills

Peking Opera performances are full of skill, and actors go through long and rigorous training to master "singing, reciting, acting, and fighting" along with "hands, eyes, body, technique, and steps."

5. Unique music and singing style

The music mainly uses Xipi and Erhuang as singing styles, with instruments like the Jinghu, Erhu, Yueqin, flute, and various percussion. The music not only sets the rhythm and atmosphere for the performance but also shapes characters and drives the plot.

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Come to Beijing and kick off this enchanting journey into national art!