Silang Tanmu (“Silang visits his mother”), a classical Peking Opera piece, is performed by the Jiangdong Peking Opera Troupe of Chongchuan district at the Gengsu Theater in Nantong, East China’s Jiangsu province, on July 2. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Silang Tanmu ( “Silang visits his mother”), a classical Peking Opera piece, was performed at the Gengsu Theater in Nantong, East China’s Jiangsu province, on July 2.

The performance served as a prelude to a series of cultural performances hosted by the aforementioned theater, a number of cultural museums in Chongchuan district, the Rudong, Rugao, and Hai’an county governments, and Nantong’s theater association.

The event was in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and Nantong’s liberation. It also marked the 100 anniversary of the establishment of the Gengsu Theater.

The performance will also be held in Rudong on July 13, in Rugao on July 21, and in Hai’an at the end of this month.

Another five events will be held at the Gengsu Theater this summer, including Yueju Opera, folk music performances, and dancing.

Locals can obtain tickets at the theater’s ticket office by presenting their ID. Each person is allowed a maximum of two tickets.

Nantong has been home to a large number of Peking Opera fans for around 100 years, starting from when Zhang Jian, a famous industrialist and top scholar of the late Qing Dynasty, founded the Gengsu Theater and Linggong School, the first modern performing arts school in China.

Zhang also invited several Peking Opera masters, including Mei Langfang and Ouyang Yuqian, to perform and teach in Nantong and help improve the craft of the city’s residents.