The traditional Yueju Opera Xiang Hua Shan Da He Shou (Celebrating Goddess Guanyin's Birthday) was staged at Sun Yat-sen's Memorial Hall in Guangzhou on March 31.

The opera, a fairytale about immortal beings who gather together to celebrate Goddess Guanyin's birthday, is a traditional opera with a long history that can be dated back more than a century. It combines Cantonese-style singing, drum music, and martial arts, and is a major local cultural heritage worthy of research, protection and promotion. 

With the passing of time, Xiang Hua Shan Da He Shou had been fading from the collective memory until Foshan intangible cultural protection center and Foshan Yueju Opera Study Institution decided to bring it back to life in 2015, by arranging Yueju opera performers to rehearse it in September 2016.

After months of research and rehearsals the opera was finally staged, attracting an audience of over 2,000 Yueju fans around the country, despite poor weather conditions. 

A total of 108 performers took part in the opera, including 22 national first-level opera performers, with 15 of them having won the Plum Performance Award, a top Chinese opera award. 

Before the performance, Guangdong Yueju Opera Promotion Association honored 10 Yueju performers including Lin Yu, Chen Xiaofeng, Bai Chaohong and Huang Zhuangmei as "top Yueju artists with great contributions to opera", and another 10 including Pan Fulin, Wang Jianxun, Chen Shiyuan, and Wu Baozhi as "honorable Yueju artists". The awards are designed to encourage them to work together to promote the cultural tradition. 

Martial arts including die luo han (forming human pyramids), dragon boating, and dragon dancing were staged by Foshan Martial Arts Association during the opera's interval, adding extra color and excitement to the event.  

The traditional Yueju Opera Xiang Hua Shan Da He Shou (Celebrating Goddess Guanyin's Birthday) is staged in Guangzhou on March 31. [Photo by Li Xihua/southcn.com]

The opera, based on a fairytale about immortals gathering together to celebrate Goddess Guanyin's birthday, is a traditional Yueju opera with a long history that can be dated back over a century, combining Cantonese-style singing, drum music, and martial arts. [Photo by Li Xihua/southcn.com]

A total of 108 performers took part in the opera, with 22 being national first-level opera performers, including 15 who have won the Plum Performance Award, a top Chinese opera award. [Photo by Li Xihua/southcn.com]