Beijing's guilds enter golden era

The first performance space is a small courtyard located to one side of the complex, where actors do their training and rehearsals. The rooms here are packed with costumes, accessories, and stage props, and give the audience a backstage glimpse into an old Peking Opera troupe.

On the other side of the complex, an actress stationed on the second floor sings and dances from above. She practices the Peking Opera skill of playing "water sleeves" as she sings. Before wrapping up her performance, she allows her long sleeves to unfurl from the second floor to the ground, to the audience's delight.

To the characteristic sound of Peking Opera, the thin, high-pitched strains of the jinghu (a two-stringed fiddle) and the sharp, dry thump of the banggu (a frame drum), the show starts in the old, two-floor building, which is decorated with lanterns. Wooden tables and chairs are arranged around a stage in the middle.

Different characters are introduced as martial arts, songs and dances are performed by young Peking Opera actors. Song, who will turn 60 this April, brings the show to an end with a display of martial arts movements in tandem with the other young actors.

"The show is centered on the theme of meng, or dreams. We want to take audience back to the olden days, when Peking Opera masters regularly performed here. The building proves that there is more to heritage than age and architectural aesthetics. It is about memories, too," says Song. "I am proud to be performing here because it's where great Peking Opera masters once performed."

Born in Beijing and embarking on a career in Peking Opera at the age of 6, Song is director of the Beijing Fenglei Peking Opera Company, which was founded in 1937 and is dedicated to preserving the 200-year-old art form that is also known as jingju.

"I can still remember that when I was in my early 20s, I performed two shows a day at the Huguang Guild Hall, because lots of tourists, especially from the West, loved coming here to watch Peking Opera," says Song, who joined the company when he was 12 years old.