Comic dialogue players cross China will gather in Beijing for the Third Beijing Comic Dialogue Contest next month.

As a popular Chinese performing art form, comic dialogue dates back to the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 B.C.) or the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.). It combines four basic techniques --speaking, imitation, teasing and singing.

"We wish the contest to be a catalyst for the rejuvenation of comic dialogue," said Duan Rong, the contest director.

Noted comic dialogue players will contend in the final held in Beijing in mid-December. Artists from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are invited to the event. A Taiwan-based troupe has applied for the contest, according to the organizer, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
 
(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2005)