Cocktail of past and present

Residents reflect on elements of their city, where local traditions and globalization collide

It is a Sunday afternoon in May, and I am inside a Fudan University classroom, where more than a dozen people - mostly young students - have come to attend a voice-training workshop for the Kunqu Opera. The theater form, less common in modern Shanghai, has its roots in southern China on the banks of the Yangtze River.

This 14-year-old program is held weekly during semesters at Fudan and witnesses the participation of an average 20 to 30 students. The current teacher is Zhao Wei, an architect by profession, who appears to enjoy spending his weekends on making youngsters learn proper phonation for onstage activities.