

Costumes are flamboyant and the exaggerated facial make-up uses concise symbols, colors and patterns to portray characters’ personalities and social identities.

Traditionally, stage settings and props are kept to a minimum. Performance is characterized by a formulaic and symbolic style with actors and actresses following established choreography for movements of hands, eyes, torsos, and feet. ‘Civilian plays’ emphasize string and wind instruments such as the thin, high-pitched ”jinghu ”and the flute ”dizi, ”while ‘military plays’ feature percussion instruments like the ”bangu ” or ”daluo”. The music of Peking opera plays a key role in setting the pace of the show, creating a particular atmosphere, shaping the characters, and guiding the progress of the stories. They tell stories of history, politics, society, and daily life and aspire to inform as they entertain. Peking opera is sung and recited using primarily Beijing dialect, and its librettos are composed according to a strict set of rules that prize form and rhyme. Click the following link and you will get a glimpse of this super art, Peking opera. It is a Chinese stage art that combines performances, acrobatics, music, arias, gongs, drums, facial paintings, literature, and many other features in one.

Peking opera, also known as Beijing opera, is China’s national opera full of Chinese cultural traditions.
