Students Fond of Peking Opera

Young Peking opera performers are in rehearsal for Red Cliff at the National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing

 Li Zelin (C) plays the warlord Cao Cao in the Peking Opera Red Cliff at the National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing, Aug 27, 2010. The opera was staged by 111 schoolchildren about 10 years old. The opera is based upon the epic Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD in China's Three Kingdoms period. Peking Opera, which was once losing popularity, is now gaining momentum among Beijing children. The young opera enthusiasts from different primary schools of Beijing used their two-month summer vacation to be trained and disciplined in the classic opera