The Chinese Culture Festival 2026 has organised a special outreach programme with free performances for students to experience the art of Chinese opera.

This year, the Chinese Opera Festival presents a demonstration performance by the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe, focusing on the creation of personae and stylised movements of different wusheng (martial male) role types in each excerpt.

Peking Opera is one of the most influential genres in Chinese opera. It places equal emphasis on the four skills of singing, line delivery, acting and martial arts. Roles are divided into four main types—sheng (male), dan (female), jing (painted face) and chou (comic). The sheng category is subdivided into laosheng (old man), wusheng (martial male) and xiaosheng (young, civil male), each with its own codified techniques and distinctive performing style.