Cover of Xiqu Beijing Photo: Courtesy of Beijing Performance and Arts Group

 
After 10 months of planning and editing, the Chinese and English bilingual book Xiqu Beijing (Beijing Opera) has been officially published. It introduces the charm of five kinds of opera in Beijing and will help overseas fans to appreciate opera masterpieces.

The book outlines the spirit of Beijing opera, including styles such as Kunqu, and it has more than 150 large-scale pictures and easy-to-understand words.

The book focuses on 24 traditional operas, eight modern operas, three foreign classics, 12 representative figures of Beijing opera and 12 elements of traditional opera costumes and stage designs. It also looks at exchanges between Chinese and foreign productions, showing the open and inclusive cultural characteristics of Chinese traditional opera.

The book introduces 21 ancient theaters, theaters in the Republic of China (1912-1949) and contemporary performance spaces, showing the context of Beijing's urban development and the characteristics of the city.

The book was designed to help domestic and overseas readers better understand the beauty of Chinese traditional operas, and it was designed from an international perspective. 

A fan of Beijing Opera from Cairo, Egypt, who is studying at Renmin University, told the Global Times on Thursday that he looks forward to reading the book and the English can help him understand the content better. “I can get to know more about Chinese opera – not only Beijing Opera but also other traditional kinds,” he said.

The book has been included in the library of the Dennos Museum Center in Michigan, US.