Promotional material for My Specialty Photo: Courtesy of Douban

'My Specialty': Variety program shows the best of traditional Chinese opera

As one of the most important art forms in China, traditional Chinese opera, or Xiqu, has an extremely long history as well as a mass following due to its unique charm. Yet this slow-paced performance is losing touch with modern audiences in today's fast-paced world. 

How to revive this art so it can be a part of people's everyday lives? A variety show is attempting to answer this question by inviting amateurs and using high technology to raise the interest of TV viewers at home. 

The show, Nashou Haoxi, or My Specialty, has set opera a blaze after it began airing on August 27. 

By including the most popular opera forms from different regions across China, the show, which wrapped up its last episode on October 29, had explored mainstream forms such as Peking Opera, Yuju Opera from Central China's Henan Province, Huangmei Opera and Yueju Opera both from South China's Guangdong Province. 

The program invited 20 actors and singers so audiences could experience the opera culture that has been passed down for thousands of years.

From basic knowledge to learning more advanced techniques bit by bit, the everyday life of hard work of professionals was revealed to audiences. 

In the program, popular opera performers such as Wang Peiyu, He Saifei and Wu Qiong were also invited to display local operas.

Different from other variety shows filmed inside a studio, the program was filmed inside a traditional Chinese garden to better suit the content of the show and display traditional Chinese design.

"In my hometown Xingtai, [North China's] Hebei Province, the top show in the village during the Spring Festival celebrations would be the opera performances on stage at the village's public square. I will never forget the look of every neat and clean move made by the performers," Wang Baoqiang, a kung fu actor and fan of the show told media. "Being welcomed on the show felt like a dream come true. Being given the chance to experience operas taught by the greatest professionals has become an unforgettable memory for me," Wang added.

Global Times