Liu Haisu, a Peking Opera fan as well as a traditional Chinese painting artist, once wrote an article, in which he likens the acting styles of different performing schools of Peking Opera to traditional paintings of different styles. He says: Mei Lanfang's performing style is like a finely drawn, bright-colored peony with leaves brought out in subtle black lines; Tan Xinpei's style is like an ink and wash painting where brilliance is hidden in plainness; and Zhou Xinfang's style resembles a great pine tree with strong, upright branches brought out in black ink. What he means is that there are similarities between different classic Chinese arts.

    From the late 18th century, kunqu opera originating in south China began declining. Purists had kept improving its conventions and singing style, leaving it burdened with increasing limi t

Much acting in Peking Opera is borrowed from Kunqu opera. Using body movements and finger skills, Mei Lanfang depicts a lady in five states.

    Peking Opera, on the other hand, has become a symbol of the traditional Chinese theater in modern times. It represents a unique artistic integration at a time when modern civilization is superseded by contemporary civilization in China. In Peking Opera, folk spirit is combined with palace interest; and southern China customs come together with northern China lifestyles. In its ascension, Peking Opera, transcending classes and geographical division, demonstrated great vitality. Peking Opera's aesthetic qualities - combinations of form and spirit, of abstractness and substance and of sound and pantomime, and its time and spatial freedoms - are all connected with this integration. For a long historical period, China's theatrical culture including Peking Opera created beauty as well as entertainingness.

Han Shichang (right), a well-known kunqu opera actor, and Mei Lanfang put on a kunqu opera in 1957.

Two teenagers put on a wu sheng play.

    When a Western-style opera or concert is in progress, no sound from the audience is usually allowed, not even applause. Late audiences are not led to their seats until an act is over. Peking Opera is different. Audiences may shout ¡°Bravo¡± when acting is at its best. When Cheng Changgeng founder of Peking Opera, performed in the imperial palace, the emperor could not help shouting his appreciation. People have unique ways of enjoying Peking Opera. Some take a particular liking for its singing, others love to watch acting by particular performers. Audiences well versed in Peking Opera know when to shout "Bravo" and when not to.

    Some fans would say: "Peking Opera is quite complicated. The subject of costume alone can take a lifetime to study." Indeed, Peking Opera is Greek to those Chinese who rarely go to a theater, let alone to foreigners. When an actor wears wrong costume, they would not notice the error; nor would they find it when an actress's singing gets out of tune. Watching an opera becomes watching excitement. Plays with a lot of acrobatic fighting are easier to understand. Audiences enjoy watching the fluttering costume of actors engaged in fierce fighting and listening to the slow or quick tempo sounds of clappers that denote deep night, thinking hard or perspiring with cold sweat upon suddenly waking up to a situation.

    Then, why don't many young people like to watch Peking Opera today? One reason is the environment. If a person is surrounded by people who are Peking Opera fans, he may come to like Peking Opera, too, under their influence; and the opposite is true, too. Another reason may have to do with people's "places of origin." Dialects in China are numerous and differ widely. People born in southern China are not familiar with pronunciation in Beijing and cannot easily see the beauty of Peking Opera.

   But there are people who easily come to like Peking Opera. lone Meyer, who was born in Scotland and now lives in London, is head of the UK Peking Opera Society. In Paris in 1989, she watched a Peking Opera performance for the first time and immediately loved it. She later explained that stylized movements, beautiful costume, high-pitched singing and extraordinary style of Peking Opera gave her great inspiration and encouragement. She had an idea: to go to Beijing to learn Peking Opera. At the end of 1989, with help from her friends, she came to the Beijing Opera School which trains adolescent pupils. The school was moved by her love of Peking Opera, accepted her as a Peking Opera student. From September 1991, at the age of 27, she became the second foreign student in the school.

    After three years of hard learning and practice, lone Meyer learned to play roles in Hu Jia Zhuang Village (hu jia zhuang), Exchange of Blows in a Restaurant (da dian), The Battle of Jinshan (zhan jin shan), The Maid in Heaven Showering Flowers (tian nu san hua), Farewell My Concubine (ba wang bie ji) and other classic operas. And she has learned to speak fluent Chinese. After her return to Britain, lone Meyer was determined to introduce Peking Opera to the West. In 1994, she founded the UK Peking Opera Society, whose members are young teachers and students of London's institutions of higher learning who love oriental art. She invited Jiang Aibing, a former actor of the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe having emigrated to London, to serve as their teacher. Members of the society often stage Peking Opera shows on campuses. They also participated in the recent Edinburgh Art Festival.

    In recent years, more foreigners have come to China to learn Peking Opera at opera schools like lone Meyer. After several years of study, their performance reaches a level that surprises their Chinese colleagues and audiences.