Ancient opera looks to strike a chord with younger audiences

Although it's one of China's oldest and most famous traditional art forms, a lack of exposure and opportunity, and an aging cast of performers mean Anhui Opera may soon face the final curtain, as Zhu Lixin and Ma Chenguang report from Hefei.

In 1790, Imperial China was ablaze with excitement about the 80th birthday of the Qianlong Emperor, and artists, entertainers, actors, dancers and performers from across the country were ordered to travel to Beijing and help celebrate the momentous event. Four opera troupes from East China's Anhui province were among the performers the emperor had commissioned, and when the celebrations finally came to an end, they decided to remain in the capital.

The decision was to prove a seminal moment in the evolution of one of China's most widely recognized cultural treasures: In the late 1820s, the troupes began giving joint performances with the best troupes in Hubei province and eventually developed the style that modern-day devotees recognize as Peking Opera.