A young rebel returns to the grand old fold

The glories of 600-year-old Kunqu Opera are something that Hu Hanchi was born and bred with, his parents both being actors in the Zhejiang Kunqu Opera Art Theater.

However, any luster those glories might have had for Hu as he grew up learning the art form from his parents had well and truly disappeared when he reached his teens. By then he had resolutely decided that the family tradition was not for him.

In high school it was hip-hop music that took his fancy, much to the chagrin of his father. Hu would go on to study at the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts, and was later an actor for the independent Beijing theater company.