Chinese performing arts: Culture and Travel Context

As one of the world's largest countries with a long history stretching back millennia, China is home to a wide variety of performing arts. This article aims to give a sampling of some of them.

China has its own unique tradition of opera (戏曲 xìqǔ), whose style differs between regions. The following styles have a national following, and tend to be regarded as representative styles of Chinese opera internationally:

Beijing opera (京剧 jīngjù) — also known as Peking opera, the most popular style of opera nationally, which as the name suggests, originated in Beijing and is sung in Mandarin. Particularly known for the elaborate face paints of the performers in major roles, which can be used to identify the character in question, and whose colours represent different character traits.

Yue opera (越剧 yuèjù) — the second most popular style of opera nationally which originated in Shengzhou near Shaoxing, and is sung mostly in the Shengzhou dialect of Wu Chinese, but with influences from Mandarin. Also often known as Shaoxing opera. It is especially popular in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, and its popularity even eclipses that of the native Shanghai opera in the former.

Kunqu (昆曲 kūnqǔ) — a style of Chinese opera that originated in Kunshan but is now performed nationwide, and regarded by many to be the most refined form of Chinese opera. In modern times, Beijing and Suzhou are considered to be the main centres of this style of opera. It can be divided into at least two distinct styles: northern style kunqu (北曲 běiqǔ) and southern style kunqu (南曲 nánqǔ). The former is mainly performed in Mandarin, while the latter is mainly performed in the Suzhou dialect of Wu Chinese.

Huangmei opera (黄梅戏 huángméixì) — considered to be a form of Chinese folk opera, originating in Huangmei, Hubei, and tracing its origin to the songs sung by women as they were picking tea. In line with its folksy image, it features less elaborate costumes than other genres. Usually sung in Mandarin.

There are also various regional styles of opera, usually sung in the local dialects, though these tend to be popular only within their respective regions. Some of these have also spread to overseas Chinese communities, particularly in Southeast Asia, and can be seen during traditional Chinese festivals. That said, the top performers of these genres are still largely concentrated in China.

Henan opera (豫剧 yùjù) — as the name suggests, the local operatic style of Henan province, and sung in Mandarin. Besides Henan, it is also popular in several other northern provinces. The most popular regional operatic style in China.

Cantonese opera (粤剧 yuèjù) — as the name suggests, is the local operatic style of the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong, and is sung in Cantonese. It is particularly known for incorporating elaborate martial arts performances. While there are professional troupes based in Hong Kong and throughout the Cantonese-speaking parts of mainland China, Foshan is said to be city of origin of this art form.

Teochew opera (潮剧 cháojù) — the local operatic style of the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, sung in Teochew, with professional troupes based throughout the region. Also prominent in areas with large overseas Teochew communities such as Bangkok and Johor Bahru.

This cultural overview is an excerpt of a community travel guide. Confirm current access, schedules and prices with the venue before planning a visit.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Chinese performing arts by Wikivoyage contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.