Shanghai's own opera on display
A Shanghai Opera garden party with performances sung in Shanghainese was held on the Bund on Sunday.
The party, which also featured fan painting, aimed to promote Huju Opera, or Shanghai opera, and Shanghai culture.
Enthusiasts learned singing Huju songs adapted from a classic work "Ode to the Plum Blossom" by prominent poet Lu You of Song Dynasty and painting plum blossoms on circular fans — a key prop for Huju performances.
Mao Shanyu, director of Shanghai Huju Theater, performed on the scene.
A garden party is a typical highlight of Shanghai Opera performances, which are sung in Shanghainese. The event attracted many university students and white-collar workers interested in Shanghai dialect and culture.
Shanghai Huju Theater said it would host more garden parties that will include learning the Shanghai dialect, sharing Shanghai stories, tea art and cheongsam shows that blend Huju art to allow more people to savor the charm of Shanghai opera.
Huju is an intangible cultural heritage protection project of China and it is known as "the voice of Shanghai."
Shanghai Huju Theater has staged a number of classic operas such as "Thunderstorm" and "Fire in the bulrush" adapted from "Shajiabang," a modern Peking Opera.
