Wearing "Monkey King" facial makeup and costumes, a group of students at the Tong Sin Tong Middle School in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) went on stage at their school hall, learning to sing Peking Opera while performing the signature moves of a monkey.

They also attended a lecture on Peking Opera and watched performances of several classic episodes by professional singers from the National Peking Opera Company (NPOC), who were paying an annual visit to Macao.

During the six-day tour that concluded on Sunday, the artists visited different schools to interact with students, lecturing on the skills of Peking Opera and teaching students to actually perform the most influential traditional Chinese opera.

Peking Opera artists Yu Kuizhi and Li Shengsu led the group to present classic pieces Lady Precious Stream, a story set in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) about the devotion of a wife to her adventurous husband who eventually returned home, and Farewell My Concubine, which tells the story of Xiang Yu, the self-styled "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" over 2,000 years ago, bidding farewell to his wife Consort Yu.

Yu said the NPOC had organized delegations of Peking Opera singers to visit nearly 100 schools in other countries and in China's Hong Kong and Macao SARs and Taiwan region, making chances for young people outside the mainland to feel the charm of Peking Opera at close quarters.

Li said quite a few Peking Opera fans in Macao can sing the two classic pieces they performed this time. "I hope the students can really learn more about Peking Opera from our tour and fall in love with it," she said.

A senior high school student surnamed Lau said she had become very interested in Peking Opera and intended to explore its customs and history.

Another student with the surname of Wong said she was most impressed by a scene when performers acted horse-riding while there were no horses on stage in another classic piece about ancient beauty Wang Zhaojun departing the frontier to marry into nomadic north for the sake of her country.

"The moves were very rich," said Wong. "It made me realize how broad and profound traditional Chinese culture is."

Performers are usually the only focal points on Peking Opera's characteristically sparse stage. They apply the skills of speech, song, dance and combat in movements that are symbolic and suggestive, rather than realistic, to achieve theatrical effects.

Wong Tak Chon, principal of Tong Sin Tong Middle School, said the teachers and students at their school were all very excited to see the Peking Opera masters in person and talk to them. "We were deeply impressed by the performances of masters," Wong said. 

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