Amateurs from Afar Staging Excellent Performances （photo by Liu Liangwei）

The Making-up （photo by Liu Liangwei）

Nationwide Fans of “Beijing Opera Stage” （photo by Liu Liangwei）

　　On the evening of November 24th, the “Beijing Opera Stage” performances kicked off with Drunken Concubine, a famous piece of Beijing Opera, presented by Dai Yingyun, one of the amateur performers. Over 20 amateurs from all over the country staged their performances of “sheng, dan, jin, mo, chou”（referring to male lead, female character type, character with painted facial make-up, middle-age male character, clown respectively）， which earned rounds of applauses from the audience. This campaign organized by Yichang government aims to “pass on Beijing Opera, cultivate talents, edify noble sentiment, and enrich cultural life”； it has immediately drawn great attention since its debut in June simply because of its easy access and public welfare. It has become the first open platform for Beijing Opera amateurs in Hubei Province.

　　There have been over 20 such events in 5 months with fans from over 10 provinces who travelled a long way to Yichang City to show themselves and add their bit to the culmination of the Beijing Opera. Faced with the downturn of Chinese traditional operas, the “Beijing Opera Stage” performances initiated by Yichang government serve as a good platform with its unique glamour. Up to now, there have been over 20 activities with over 600 performers and nearly 4000 audiences in over 5 months.

　　The “Beijing Opera Stage” performances start at 7:30 P.M. on the last Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each month. The amateur performers volunteer to stage performances, and the audiences pay 5 yuan for admission, which enables them to enjoy the operas over tea at antique traditional square tables, to watch the performance presented by national-level actors and to meet like-minded friends throughout the country. Amateurs even can stage their own performances with a charge of 30 yuan for singing without make-up or 200 yuan with complete costumes plus props and making-up if they want to. “No matter who you are, performer, theatre dresser, instrument player, or even the director himself will only be paid 100 yuan for one performance”， Sun Hu said, “but even so, the income from performances has never reached 3000 yuan while the cost of each event is over 5000 yuan; therefore, it is common for us to lose over 2000 yuan for each event.” However, this platform only for Beijing Opera lovers has gradually grown in the midst of the praise of amateur performers from Yichang and other parts of China including Shanghai, Anhui Province, Wuhan, Chongqing, Enshi, Jingzhou. Dai Yingyun, for instance, an amateur from Shanghai has been presenting a performance every month; Professor Sheng Zhongbing from Anhui Province, has visited Yichang several times just to make friends; Cheng Peiling the prestigious senior amateur, has celebrated his ninetieth birthday right on the stage. All this has become much-told touching stories among amateurs.