¡¡¡¡THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA is the third largest country in the world in terms of area and the largest in terms of population. Its total area is 9.6 million square kilometers and its population is 1.3 billion.

¡¡¡¡China is an ancient country with long-standing history and natural scenery that includes magnificent mountains and rivers. With its thousands of years of civilization and variety of ethnic groups and customs, it is rich in tourism resources.

¡¡¡¡China is destined to make new and greater achievements in the 21st century. Tourism in China is geared to stay abreast of all such developments in the new era.

¡¡¡¡At the start of the new century, China's tourist industry will introduce a new series of tours based on different themes: Health & Fitness-China 2001, Folk Arts-China 2002, Culinary Kingdom-China 2003, Catch the Lifestyle-China 2004, and the third Visit China 2005.

£ £ Peking Opera

¡¡¡¡Known as China's national opera, Peking opera of China is a national treasure with a history of 200 years. In the 55th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty(1790) ,the four famous Huiban opera Troupes were invited to the capital and combined with Kunqu opera, Yiyang opera, Hanju opera and Luantan in Beijing's thearetical circle of the time. Through a period of more than half a century of combination and integration of various kinds of opera there evolved the present Peking opera, the biggest kind of opera in China.

¡¡¡¡Peking opera is a synthesis of stylized action, singing, dialogue and mime, acrobatic fighting and dancing to represent a story or depict different characters and their feelings of gladness, anger, sorrow, happiness, surprise, fear and sadness. Often there are just a table and a few chairs on the stage. The description of many situations depends on the performance of the actors and actresses.

¡¡¡¡Opening a door, walking at night, rowing a boat, eating, drinking and the like are all demonstrated by the stylized movements of the actors and actresses. Performers also use their eyes and facial expressions to help convey the specific meaning.

¡¡¡¡The types of facial make-ups in Peking opera are rich and various, depicting different characters and remarkable images, therefore they are highly appreciated. Moreover there are numerous fixed editions of facial make-up.

¡¡¡¡There are four roles in Peking Oprea generally: the male, the female, the "painted face", and the clown, which are further classified by age and profession. Male roles can be dividedsintosthree categories: the old, the young and the martial arts expert. Female roles includes the young and the middle-aged, the innocent and dissolute, girls with martial arts skills and old women. Painted face roles are always played by frank and open-minded men with brightly colored faces. Clown roles are marked by a dab of white on the ridge of the nose. This character is sometimes positive, kind-hearted and humorous, but sometimes negative, malicious or silly. Each role has its fixed singing and acting styles.

¡¡¡¡For the painted face role, the color of their made-up faces can be an indication of their characters or personality. Red indicates uprightness and loyalty; white is craftiness and cunning. Blue stands for a vigorous, courageous and enterprising nature while yellow shows an intelligent character, but a less extroverted one. Black shows a sound and honest character while brown is often the symbol of a stubborn and obstinate character.

¡¡¡¡The repertoire of Peking opera is mainly engaged in fairy tales of preceding dynasties, important historical events, emperors, ministers and generals, geniuses and great beauties, from the ancient times to Yao, Shun, Yu, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing.

¡¡¡¡The music of Peking opera is that of the "plate and cavity style".Its melody with harmonious rhythms is graceful and pleasing. The melody may be classifiedsintostwo groups: "Xipi" and "Erhong", guiding pattern, original pattern, slow pattern, quick pattern, desultary pattern being their chief patterns. The performance is accompanied by a tune played on wind instruments, percussion instruments and stringed instruments, the chief musical instruments being jinghu (a two-stringed bowed instrument with a high register), yueqin( a four-stringed plucked instrument with a full-moon-shaped sound box), Sanxian( a three-stringed plucked instrument), suona horn, flute drum, big-gong, cymbals, small-gong, etc.

¡¡¡¡The costumes in Peking opera are graceful, magnificent, elegant and brilliant, most of which are made in handicraft embroidery. As the traditional Chinese pattern are adopted, the costumes are of a high aesthetic value.

¡¡¡¡In the past 200 years, numerous schools and celebrated performers have emerged. Many of them are emulated by modern-day actors and actresses.

¡¡¡¡Famous male actors include Tan Xinpei, Yang Xiaolou, Yu Shuyan, Ma Lianliang and Zhou Xinfang. The most famous actors who played female roles are Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu, Zhang Junqiu and Xun Huisheng.

¡¡¡¡Peking Opera represents an important part of Chinese culture and has become a refined form of art as a result of the hard work of hundreds of artists over the past two centuries. It has made an excellent contribution to cultural exchange between China and the West, to friendly association and to improvement of solidarity.

¡¡¡¡Background

¡¡¡¡Famous Opera Synopses

¡¡¡¡Banquet at Hongmen(Hongmen Yan): A mix of attempted murder and political intrigue, this opera pits powerful warlord Xiang Yu against Liu Bang, the future emperor of the Western Han Dynasty(206 BC- 24 AD). Xiang invites Liu to a banquet at a place named Hongmen in an attempt to murder him. Getting the murder intelligence in advance, Liu's famous brainpower and generals help Liu get out the conspiracy.

¡¡¡¡Battle of Chibi(Chibi Zhi Zha): A traditional Peking opera adapted from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms," this tells the story of a powerful army from the Wei Kingdom that is defeated at Chibi by the allied forces of the Wu and Shu kingdoms, led respectively by Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang, masters of military strategy.

¡¡¡¡Beating the Dragon Robe(Da Long Pao): Bao Zheng, a high-ranking official of the Song Dynasty(960-1279), stages a play for Emperor Zhao Zhen at the Lantern Festival about an undutiful son who is killed by a thunderbolt. This angers Zhao because it suggests he has been an undutiful son. The emperor learns later, however, that his mother has been driven out of court by another concubine of his father and is leading a miserable life in a village. The emperor immediately orders her brought back to the court. The mother censures her son and tells Bao Zheng to give him a beating forshavingsbeen so unfilial. Bao asks the Emperor to take off his robe and beats that instead.

¡¡¡¡Breaking the Siege(Zou Maicheng): Guan Yu, one of the top generals of the Shu Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms Period(220-280 AD), is defeated by the combined forces of the other two kingdoms, Wei and Wu. He withdrawssintosthe tiny town of Maicheng, to which the allied forces then lay siege. Guan realizes all he can do is break out, but is killed trying.

¡¡¡¡Courtesan Yu Tangchun(Yu Tangchun): Set in the Ming Dynasty, this opera tells the story of a prostitute who falls in love with a scholar who frequents her brothel. When the scholar runs out of money the procuress bars him from returning. Meanwhile, the prostitute is sold to a merchant from Shanxi Province. The merchant's wife poison her husband and the prostitute is blamed. The scholar has become a high official in charge of justice at Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province. He has questions about the merchant's murder and orders the prostitute to be brought to Taiyuan. He sees the accused is his former lover and is so shocked that he loses his self-composure, which betrays his involvement with her. He pays a private visit to her in jail but is discovered by another official, who is persuaded to investigate the case and find the truth. In the end she is cleared of the charge and is married to her former lover.

¡¡¡¡Drunken Beauty(Guifei Zui Jiu): Yang Yuhuan, better known as Guifei (imperial Concubine of the First Order), is the most favored consort of Emperor Ming Huang(685-762 AD) of the Tang Dynasty. She is invited by the emperor to appreciate the flowers and have a drink at the Pavilion of One Hundred Flowers. As appointed, Guifei comes to the pavilion with her entourage of palace maids and eunuchs. she waits a long time but the emperor fails to appear. She finally gets word that Ming Huang has returned to the western Palace Court to visit Meifei, another concubine. Disappointed and resentful, she has no alternative but to drink alone. She becomes bitter when she recalls how she was doted on in her early days at the Palace. Wine aggravates her sadness and makes her quite drunk. She returns to her quarters lonely with the helpe of the maids.

¡¡¡¡"Five Mice" Fighting in the Capital(Wu Shu Nao Dongjing): Five martial arts masters in the Song Dynasty(960-1279) are sworn brothers, known as the "Five Mice." The fact that martial arts masters Zhan Zhao is nicknamed the "Royal Cat" by the emperor irritates the Fifth Mouse Bai Yutang. Ho goes to the capital, kills a eunuch and writes a poem in the templeswheresthe emperor pays respects to his ancestors. The emperor sends the Royal Cat to catch the culprit. Then other four mice come to the capital to wreak havoc.

¡¡¡¡Forest of Wild Boars(Yezhu Lin): Lu Zhishen, a fugitive in the Song Dynasty(960-1279), runs away to become a monk after killing a scroudrel. He becomes sworn brothers with Lin Chong, a military officer. At temple festival, Gao Shide, son of defense minister Gao Qiu, takes liberties with Lin Chong's beautiful wife. Her maid runs to tell Lin, who threatens the scroudrel away. Gao Shide then frames Lin Chong to get his wife. Lin is arrested and exiled in Cangzhou. Gao bribes the two escorting soldiers to murder Lin on the way. Lu Zhishen follows them secretly and, seeing the soldiers are about to kill Lin in the Forest of Wild Boars, he comes to the rescue.

¡¡¡¡General and the Premier Make up(Jiang Xiang He): King Zhaoxiang of Qin State during the Warring States Period(475-221BC) pretends to agree to return the 15 cities to Zhao State, but demands the precious jade Heshibi. King Huiwen of Zhao State knows that Zhaoxiang's intention is to get the jade, but he dares not refuse the offer. Lin Xiangru is recommended to take the jade to Qin State, but when he finds out that King Zhaoxiang has no intention of returning the cities, he threatens to destroy the jade and kill himself by jumpingsintosa pot of hot oil. Zhaoxiang is awed by Lin's bravery and releases him to return the jade to Zhao State. Lin accompanies his king to a banquet given by Zhaoxiang at Mingci in honour of King Huiwen. At the banquet, Zhaoxiang insults Huiwen by forcing him beat the drum. Lin forces Zhaoxiang to do the same. The Qin ruler then demands more cities from Zhao while Lin rejects the demand. Meanwhile, Zhao's general Lian Po leads his troops to their aid. Lin is appointed premier of Zhao State. General Lian is unhappy about this and stops Lin and his men three times on their way to the palace. Putting the state interest above his own, Lin tolerates all the insults. His men are angry. Lin points out:" It is dangerous to the state if the general is on bad terms with the premier." On hearing this, Lian Po is ashamed. he ties a stick to his back and goes to Lin's home for forgiveness. They become good friends and Zhao becomes a great power.

¡¡¡¡Hai Rui Dismissed from Office(Hai Rui Ba Guan): During the reign of Longqing of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644), Xu Ying, son of the former but powerful prime minister Xu Jie, seizes the land of a peasant Zhao Yushan, hounds the peasant's son to dealth and abducts his granddaughter. Hong Alan, Zhao's daughter-in-law, sues Xu Ying at the local court of Huating county. Xu bribes the magistrate and forges documents to cover up his criminal activities. The magistrate,shavingspocketed a fat bribe, has Zhao Yushan tortured to death and the plaintiff Hong Alan thrown out of the court room. Hai Rui is appointed Governor,shavingsjurisdiction over a large area south of the Yangtze. He comes to Huating county to try the case of Hong Alan personally. At court he lays bare Xu's crimes, sentencing him to death and punishing the corrupt officials. The retired prime minister calls on Hai Rui, asking him to be lenient with his son Xu Ying. Hai Rui turns down this unjustified request, insists on the original sentence and orders Xu Jie to return the lands taken previously. Xu Jie sends his men to the capital to bribe the influential eunuchs and Hai Rui dismissed from his post.

¡¡¡¡Mu Guiying Takes Command(Mu Guiying Guashuai):She Taijun, widow of a famous general of the Song Dynasty can not sit idle when she learns that the Western Xia regime has invaded the Song Empire. She sends her great-grandchildren Yang Wenguang and Yang Jinhua to the capital city for information. There they breaksintosthe martial arts competition arena and kill Wang Kun, the son of the defense minister who wants to take command of the Song troops insgroupsthat his family may usurp the power of the empire. The emperor then learns that they are descendants of the Yang family and agrees to put their mother, Mu Guiying, in command of the troops. She is reluctant to take command because she knows that the emperor is a capricious person. Widow She, however, persuades her daughter-in-law to take command, putting aside her private resentment insgroupsto save the country.

¡¡¡¡Orphan of the Zhao Family, The(Zhao Shi Gu'er): Zhao Dun, a minister of the Jin Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period(770-476 BC), is framed by a general named Tu Anjia, who then kills all members of the Zhao family except a six-month-old baby who is substituted by one of the servants with his own son. The servant brings up the baby boy and tells him the whole story. Then the boy, who has grownsintosa warrior, wreaks his revenges on the general. This is said to be the first Peking opera introduced to Europeans.

¡¡¡¡Taming of the Shrew(San Da Tao Sanchun): Tao Sanchun, the daughter of a high-ranking official during the Five Dynasties period(907-960 AD), is famous as a shrew. When Chai Rong, emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty(951-960 AD), comes to the throne, people are sent to take her to the capital to marry the official Zheng Ziming. He asks his friend, a general who goes disguised as a highwayman, to subdue the shrew so that she will not bully her husband in the capital. When the wife finds out about the plot, she gets angry with her would-be husband. She goes to look for Zheng Ziming, who has already runaway from her. Another general, Zhao Guangyin, is summoned by the emperor to settle the dispute between the two and hold a wedding for them.

¡¡¡¡Two Sisters of the Qiao Family(Fenghuang Er Qiao): Set at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD), this opera features the marriage between the two beauties of the Qiao family and the heroes Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. At the beginning of the opera Sun, the founder of the Wu Kingdom, borrows 3,000 soldiers from a warlord and forms an alliance with the Qiao family, whose army is headed by the two daughters. Sun looks down on the elder sister, who offers to compete with him in a martial arts contest. The younger sister, who falls in love with Zhou Yu, Sun's best friend, reveals her sister's skills to Sun. The elder sister fails in the contest and marries Sun.

¡¡¡¡Two Sisters of the Red Mansions, the(Honglou Er You): The two sisters, together with their mother, are staying at the mansion of Jia Zhen. The two sisters, Second Sister You and Third Sister You, are well-known for their beauty. Third Sister You meets Liu Xianglian, an opera star, and falls in love at first sight. Jia Lian secretly makes Second Sister You his concubine. Then he flirts with Third Sister You, who reproaches him. She wants to marry Liu Xianglian, but he breaks off their engagement and Third Sister You commits suicide do demonstrate her innocence. Liu, heart0broken, enters a temple to become a monk.

¡¡¡¡Unexpected Reunion(Qi Shuang Hui): This opera tells the story of a brother and sister who are mistreated by their stepmother while their father is away. After the stepmother commits adultery with a local official, the two run away from home. The brother later passes the imperial examination and is appointed a provincial magistrate, while the sister marries a county governor. The two , who meet again quite by coincidence, save their father, who is in jailshavingsbeen wrongly accused by their stepmother of murder.

¡¡¡¡Wang Zhaojun's Marriage(Zhao Jun Chu Sai): In the early Han Dynasty Huhanxie Chanyu, king of a northern kingdom, comes to the Han capital of Chang'an to seek the hand of a princess of the Han royal family in marriage. Wang Zhaojun, a maid of honor in the palace, volunteers to marry Chanyu. She bids farewell to her home, and climbing over mountains and crossing rivers on her way, she expresses her deep love for her country and her wish for a lasting friendship between her motherland and her new home.

¡¡¡¡White Snake(Bai She Zhuan): In this popular fairy tale, White Snake--fairy Bai Suzhen--who has practised Buddhism for thousands of years and can metamorphosesintosa beautiful woman, wants to taste the love of a human being. She falls in love with Xu Xian at the Broken Bridge on West Lake and wants to marry him. Fa Hai, a monk at Gold Mountain Temple, prevents the fairy snake from marrying him by using his magic power to subdue her and put her under the Lei Feng Pagoda. Many years later, Xiao Qing, her little sister who is actually a green snake, comes to rescue her.

¡¡¡¡Women Generals of the Yang Family(Yangmen Nu Jiang): This opera tells the popular Song Dynasty story of the famous women generals of the Yang family. Widow She Taijun and her granddaughter-in-law Mu Guiying, who is also a widow, lead other widow generals of the family to defeat invaders from the West Xia regime. The male generals of the family have all laid down their lives fighting to defend the country's borders.

¡¡¡¡Xiao He Chases Han Xin under the Moon(Xiao He Yue Xia Zhui Han Xin): Xiao He, the most famous important staff officer of Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, recommends an able general named Han Xin to Liu Bang. Liu looks down upon Han Xin, who leaves, irritated by Liu's cold manners. Xiao He, knowing how useful the general will be to Liu's career, chases him and persuades him to stay, and then recommends him again.

¡¡¡¡Yang Ping Pass(Yang Ping Guan): Cao Cao wants to get revenge on Liu Bei for the death of general Xiahou Yuan. Cao stations his troops at Yangping Pass to fight Liu Bei. Chief staff officer Zhu Geliang wants someone to burn Cao Cao's grain store so Cao Cao will have to withdraw for lack of food. Old general Huang Zhong decides to carry out this plan despite attempts of other generals to dissuade him. Huang, surrounded by Cao's army after he burns down the grain store, is rescued by general Zhao Yun.

¡¡¡¡Yang Silang Visits His Mother(Silang Tan Mu): An episode from the Yang Family Generals, this story takes place in the Song Dynasty. Yang Silang, a general, is arrested by his counterpart in the Liao army and later married a Liao princess, Tiejing. After 15 years, when Yang Silang hears that his mother and brother are leading a Song army to the border area, he wants to see them very much. When his wife, Princess Tiejing, realizes he is worrying, she helps him cross the heavily guarded border. He finally meets his mother, but in the end returns to his lovely princess.

¡¡¡¡Chuan Opera

¡¡¡¡Chuan Opera is one of China's oldest local operas, popular in Sichuan Province and some regions of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. During the early years of the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911) there were five independent local operas prevalent simultaneously in the Sichuan area. In the course of evolution, they were gradually mergedsintoswhat we call Chuan Opera. Among them, Gaoqiang(high tune) is the richest, with a distinctive Sichuan local color. It is accompanied only by percussion and chorus without any wind or string instruments. Chuan Opera's wide repertoire has a strong literary quality, and is full of wit, humor and lively dialogue with a pronounced local flavor. It also has built its own system of stylized movements. Special characters use stunts such as immortals who have a third eye on their forehead that they can open suddenly to show their magic power; quick changes of facial characteristics without makeup; jumping through burning hoops, and hiding of swords.

¡¡¡¡Chuan Opera has a lot of traditional theatrical pieces. Some of them are about the common people's life, some of them are the history stories or the fairy tales and some of them are the processing of other operas. In Chuan Opera, the Zhezi opera is the most famous one. The unique skill "face changing" is loved by all the audience.

¡¡¡¡The following is a list of famous synopses:

¡¡¡¡Dongxiang Massacre, the(Bashan Xiucai): In Sichuan during the late Qing Dynasty, Dongxiang County is hit by a serious drought. The victims ask the local government for relief food. But the county magistrate falsely tells his superiors that the local people want to rebel. So the provincial military commander commands an end to the rebellion, and 3,000 innocent people are massacred. Meng Dengke, a scholar from Sichuan, voices his sorrow for the 3,000 wrong souls. The news reaches Dowager Ci Xi, who orders an investigationsintosthe incident and punishment for those responsible.

¡¡¡¡Husband-Wife Bridge, the(Fuqi Qiao): The opera is set in Sichuan Guangxian County during the reign of Emperor Jiaqi of the Qing Dynasty. At the Fulong Ferry by the Minjiang River, many passengers are drowned in summer floods. Zeng Xiwu and Fan Laome, two local ruffians, control the ferry and extort money from the passengers. He Xiande, a young school teacher, is determined to build a bamboo chain bridge. He is supported by the local people but threatened by Zeng and Fan. Due to the actions of corrupt officials and local ruffians, the bamboo chain bridge is destroyed on a stormy night and He is killed. He's wife continues the work left by her husband and, with the joint efforts of the people, the bridge is built as last.

¡¡¡¡Dajiao Furen(Madame Big Feet): Madame Yang, known as "Madame Big Feet", is a distinguished lady with an honorary title by imperial mandate. Her son, a playboy, beats an old villager to death and then is accidentally killed by Wu Xianliang, a hero. Madame Big Feet chooses the law over her maternal feelings and orders her son's corpse to be left in the street for three days. Then she adopts Wu as her son and together, they go to join the imperial force to defend the country.

¡¡¡¡Profile of Tao Furu(Funu Zhuan): Tao Furu, a talented woman in Hangzhou, is engaged to Xi Xianchun, a scholar from Suzhou. They promise to meet at West Lake. But Xi does not keep his promise, instead he goes to Suzhou to see his mother, who is serious ill. Su Ran, a local official, happens to visit West Lake and is attracted by Tao's beauty. Su attempts in vain to take Tao as his concubine: he arrests Tao's father on a fabricated charge and puts Tao in a brothel. Jia Lian, a blind storyteller, sympathizes with Tao and writes a profile of Tao Funa, which is soon well-known in Hangzhou. After reading the profile, Chen Gangchu, a hero from Taihu Lake, kills Su Ran and saves Tao Furu. In the end, Tao is reunited with her father and her fianc?

¡¡¡¡Romantic Confusion(Qiao Taishou Luan Dian Yuanyang Pu): Scholar Sun Run meets a young woman, Liu Huiniang: another scholar Pei Zheng, falls in love with Xu Wengu. When they exchange keepsakes, the two couples make a careless mistake and receive mismatched mementoes. But the mistake meets their parents' marriage arrangements. Love becomes more confusing when at the wedding ceremony, a third "couple" stands in for the two families. Only Commissioner Qiao can unravel these romantic complications and make three "perfect" matches.

¡¡¡¡Unfaithful Scholar, the(Du Shiniang): At Yanjiang, scholar Li Jia falls in love with Du Shiniang, a prostitute. Du buys back her freedom with her savings and begins travelling home with Li. But along the way, Li meets Sun Fu, a rich salt merchant who warns Li not to bring home a prostitute. In response, the unfaithful scholar promises to sell Du to Sun. Burning with anger, Du throws herself and a box of jewellerysintosthe