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Yue opera gains popularity in Baotou

By Lu Wei Updated: 2016-10-10

Ningbo Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe impressed the audience with Yue opera performances they gave in Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, during the golden week period, according to Baotou Evening News.

The troupe gave a performance of Butterfly Lovers, one of their most successful works. Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend featuring a tragic love story about a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The story is now known as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being the Legend of the White Snake (Baishezhuan), Lady Meng Jiang, and The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid (Niulang Zhinü).

Founded in the 1980s, the troupe was once called the Ningbo Yue Opera Troupe. The troupe finally got its current name in 1992, after recruiting 35 talented students from Ningbo Arts School and providing them with professional training.

Yue opera, also known as Shaoxing opera, is the second most popular opera in China, the most popular being Peking opera. Originating in Shengzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male roles, as well as femininity in terms of singing, performing, and staging.

The opera is highly popular in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, along with Shanghai, which are all neighbors to the birthplace of Yue opera. Now the opera is being heard outside the Yangtze River Delta area and is receiving growing popularity in Baotou, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Yue opera gains popularity in Baotou

Ningbo Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe gave a performance of Butterfly Lovers at the Baotou Grand Theater, Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Sept 30. [Photo/Baotou Evening News]

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