Kung fu: Real vs show

Many people know about Chinese martial arts from Kungfu movies and films about the famous Shaolin temple. In films, kung fu practitioners are always the first ones to jump toward the center of a room to challenge the skills of a local competitor. But in reality, Chinese kung fu practitioners are seldom seen in any of those competitive fighting events. Actually Kung fu is more like a long-term self-cultivation both physically and spiritually, in the process of which Chinese ancient philosophy, Buddhism, Taoism, and even the theory of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) integrate into the practitioner's cultivation.

Yue Meiti - Kunqu Opera's great survivor

Yue Meiti plays a young male role in a Kunqu Opera performance

Kunqu, also known as Kunju, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from the Kunshan melody, and dominated Chinese theatre from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The style originated in the Wu cultural area.
Kunqu was developed during the late Ming Dynasty (14th century), and a famous early pioneer was Gu Jian of Qiandeng town in Kunshan. Kunqu has influenced on many other Chinese theatre forms, including Jingju (Peking Opera). Its emergence ushered in the second Golden Era of Chinese drama.
Kun Qu songs are accompanied by a bamboo flute, a small drum, wooden clappers, gongs and cymbals, all used to punctuate actions and emotions on stage.

Yang Liping and the dance drama Peacock

Yang Lipings dancing Peacock

Yang Liping (杨丽萍, born November 10, 1958) is the director, choreographer and star of a performance art show called "Dynamic Yunnan" that has drawn sellout crowds all over China. She toured Europe and the United States in 2005. Between 2004 and 2008, Yang Liping directed and choreographed a trilogy: "Dynamic Yunnan", "Echoes of Shangri-la" and "Tibetan Myth". In 2004, "Dynamic Yunnan" won five major awards at the National Lotus Awards, including Gold Award for Dance Spectacular, Best Choreography and Best Female Performer.
Last year, Yang started a worldwide tour of the dance drama Peacock. The drama, based on the two eternal themes of life and love, is a story about growth, human nature and love.

《中国京剧有声大考》

《中国京剧有声大考》精选了自1910年中国有现代音响技术设备以来至八十年代间谭鑫培、孙菊仙、汪笑侬、刘鸿声、王瑶卿、杨小楼、余叔岩、梅兰芳等120位杰出的唱工演员的280个精彩唱段,其中生、旦、净、丑齐全,唱白兼备,名唱荟萃,百花争妍。有的唱段为世所罕见,珍贵无比!这套有声大考,不仅具有重要的欣赏价值,而且具有重要的资料价值,足以代表中国京剧声乐艺术的最高水平。

The Vocal Art of Chinese Beijing Opera

The Vocal Art of Chinese Beijing Opera comprises some 283 excellent arias sung by more than 120 eminent Beijing Opera artists over the period from 1910 to the 1980s. Among them were Tan Xinpei, Yang Xiaolou, Yu Shuyan and Mei Lanfang. This collection, which represents the top-level vocal art of Beijing Opera, not only meets the need for entertainment, but is of great value to scholars in the history of Beijing Opera.

Selected Beijing Opera Arias CDs and Performce DVDs

Beijing Opera is a performing art unique in its aesthetic achievement. Though Beijing Opera is a combination of many aspects of the performing art, vocal art is its most essential part. It can be said with certainty that without vocal art there is no opera. The singing of both male and female roles is diverse and expressive, giving vent to their innermost feelings and emotions. It has an enchanting artistic appeal.

Peking Opera renaissance

Children performers

Peking opera or Beijing opera (simplified Chinese: 京剧; traditional Chinese: 京劇; pinyin: Jīngjù) is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China.

Chinese language learning

Learning Chinese language is the best way to communicate with the Chinese and understand Chinese culture. There is about one fifth of the population in the world that speaks Chinese language. For non-Chinese speakers, to learn Chinese language seems to be much more difficult than to learn other languages, as Chinese characters cannot be spelled out with alphabets; the Chinese characters can only be visually comprehended. In other words, spoken Chinese characters and the written Chinese characters are not phonetically related. The grammar of Chinese language, however, is relatively simple. Almost all Chinese words have only one grammatical form, which makes Chinese language not only grammatically logical, but also pragmatic, related to the particular way of Chinese thinking.

New media big trend for Chinese language study in US

Thousands of Chinese language teachers and learners are gathering at the Sixth National Chinese Language Conference in Boston, the US. The national Chinese Language Conference has been running annually since 2008.

Descendants of legendary Emperor pursue 'Chinese Dream'

Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke of “striving to achieve the Chinese dream of great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” in his inauguration address as new president. Contrasting it to the “American dream” of giving individuals equal opportunities, Western journalists commented it as a collective national dream, the “dream” to win back its previous place as a world leader in science, technology, economy and culture. After more than 30 years of rapid development along with reform and opening up, Chinese people believe that they are closer to realizing the great national dream, which was initially put forward about a century ago. But Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao called for efforts from the public towards achieving the "Chinese Dream" during an inspection tour. Li said the "Chinese Dream" is not only the vision of the country and the whole nation, but also the dream of every individual and family that is pursuing a better life.

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