2008 January

Chinese Opera stage photo - Peking Opera Wu Zixu Pictures 2/10

The eastern province of Anhui is famous for two "Huangs": the tangible heritage Huang-shan Mountain and the intangible legacy Huang-mei opera. Compared to the 600-hundred-year-old Kunqu Opera, Huangmei is just a young girl. Its fresh, natural style has made it the pop and country music in China's traditional opera. To keep the genre alive, Han Zaifen has persisted for decades to keep it current. On today's THE LIST, we'll take a look at the on and off stage story of Huangmei opera star Han Zaifen.

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 Kunqu Opera is one of the oldest forms of opera still existing in China, with its origins dating back to the end of the YuanDynasty (1271-1368). It has distinguished itself by the virtuosity of its rhythmic patterns and has exerted a dominant influence on all the more recent forms of opera in China, including the Sichuan and Beijing operas. In 2001, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization) proclaimed Kunqu Opera as a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity (a UNESCO program that ensures the best of every country's traditions is preserved and developed as well as made known to the outside world).

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