Fan of the opera

An early Sinologist from Australia, Colin Mackerras is still discovering China, especially its ancient art forms. Liu Xiangrui reports.

Colin Mackerras was pursuing his master's degree at Cambridge University when he learned that foreign-language teachers were needed in China in the 1960s. He decided to give it a try despite the different geopolitical conditions back then.

His visits over half a century have resulted in hundreds of academic papers and dozens of books with views from within China and the West.