The Beijing Garden Expo Park in Fengtai district welcomes visitors to enjoy themselves at the eighth Chinese Opera Culture Week, which will kick off on Friday and last till Oct 3.
The park is expected to become an "opera paradise" and a popular destination online during the period. The event will offer visitors performances by renowned artists, rare opera genres, an amateurs' performance competition, interactive activities, an opera industry expo and cultural products.
This year's opera week event consists of twelve thematic activities, such as the opening ceremony, showcasing masterpieces, a gathering of noted artists from Beijing and its surrounding Tianjin city and Hebei province, regional opera performances and academic seminars on the development of opera. Renowned opera artists such as Wang Rongrong, Du Zhenjie, Wang Hongling and Wang Ping will present their masterpieces at the opening ceremony.
The event has invited representative opera genres and rare opera genres from various provinces to be performed in Beijing. Among them are Huagu Opera from Changsha, capital city of Central China's Hunan province, Shanghai's Huaiju Opera and Qinqiang Opera from Northwest China's Gansu province.
Focusing on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, this year's opera week event has selected national professional opera resources to be performed in Beijing and planned the presentation of excellent productions at professional theaters in Beijing, such as Mei Lanfang Theatre, and Tianqiao Theatre.
It has given special invitations to well-known troupes from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, including the Jingju Theater Company of Beijing, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre based in Beijing and a Pingju Opera theater from Tianjin, allowing audience to "watch grand performances" during the opera week. Throughout the event, 48 troupes from different regions in the country will present nearly 100 performances.
The public is welcome at a diverse array of specially arranged creative and exciting activities, including an opera enthusiasts competition and performances of opera groups. The competition this year is open to all opera genres, professions, ages and genders, aiming to provide a platform for enthusiasts to showcase and exchange their love for opera.
