Old men can often be seen in parks singing their favorite parts of Peking Opera. For many Chinese over the age of 70, Peking Opera was the only form of entertainment they were exposed to when they were growing up. If you don't go to the opera, you're not a human being." The Peking Opera that tourist groups witness today in many respects is the same - albeit shortened and abbreviated -as opera viewed by Chinese 200 years ago during the Qing dynasty. In one of the opening scenes of the film “Farewell My Concubine”, one the character's exclaims, "If you belong to the human race, you go to the opera. The love of opera is very deep among some. “The problem is that it takes a lot to know it, and fewer and fewer people have the time or the inclination.” “The more you know about Beijing opera, the more you love it,” said Liu Hua, a former performer and now a teacher. To appreciate Peking Opera requires some background knowledge. It takes a very long time to study, at least 8 to 10 years just to get in the door as a performer. Peking Opera is an especially demanding form, both to perform and to witness. The traditional repertoire of Beijing Opera includes more than 1,000 works, mostly taken from historical novels about political and military struggles. Spoken dialogue is divided into recitative and Beijing colloquial speech, the former employed by serious characters and the latter by young females and clowns. The acting is based on allusion: gestures, footwork, and other body movements express such actions as riding a horse, rowing a boat, or opening a door. In Peking Opera (Beijing Opera), traditional Chinese string and percussion instruments provide a strong rhythmic accompaniment to the acting. It is said the focus of the art form is spectacle and athleticism and, like Japanese kabuki, for a time all the actors, even those playing female roles, were male but since the early 20th century there have been female actors. Actors often wear masks or make up to highlight their facial features. Peking Opera is sometimes described as a dance drama genre. Most stories come from Chinese history and legends. Peking Opera make up Peking Opera is a traditional form of entertainment in China that was quite popular in the old days and still has a following today.
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