Pensioners keep historic opera alive

Part of the nation's Intangible Cultural Heritage, Yunnan opera's audience is steadily shrinking

White makeup covering their aged faces, Chinese performers - all aged over 50 - don richly-colored robes and false beards to belt out tunes passed down for more than two centuries.

The "Flower Lantern" Yunnan Opera troupe performs each day on a run-down stage, their droning instruments and melismatic singing mingling with sounds from a vegetable market next door.