Private opera troupes are flourishing in Fujian, a province on the east China seaboard, as more and more local residents decide to hire troupes to entertain their friends and neighbors.

According to Lin Ruiwu, an official with Fujian provincial cultural bureau, there are 765 non-governmental troupes in Fujian, more than in any other province in the country, providing over 20,000 people with jobs.

By contrast, there are only 30 or so state-financed troupes in Fujian.

"The non-governmental troupes stage more than 160,000 shows a year and earn 400 million yuan (US$50 million) in revenue," said the official.

Fujian, with a 1,000-year tradition of opera singing, had as many as 32 types of local opera and drama in the past. Only 20 are still in vogue, including fuzhou Opera, an opera popular in northeastern Fujian Province, and puxian opera, also known as xinghua opera, popular in Putian and Xianyou.

Eleven Fujian operas are included on the state intangible cultural heritage list.

Wu Xianyang, leader of Xiangyang Non-Governmental Fuzhou opera Theater, said he now operates three separate troupes with 180 employees and a registered capital of 2 million yuan. "We are invited to do more than 1,000 shows each year, and we charge 4,000 yuan per show. People have lots of reasons to celebrate with a show: the birth of a baby, the completion of a family clan temple, a birthday, or the fulfillment of a promise," said Wu.

Old people and migrant workers make up the bulk of the audience for local opera shows which are mainly held in the open air, said Wu, whose opera theater earns 4 million yuan in business revenue a year.

He said that his theater received technical assistance for stage illumination and choreography from the more professional state-backed Fuzhou opera Theater in Fuzhou City and had recently been given financial support from the city government of Fuzhou.

"Our theater took part in the 23rd Fujian drama performance season held in Fuzhou from Jan.18 to 29, with a special fund of 100,000 yuan provided by the city government," said Wu. "It is the first government financing I have received in my career to run a theater."

"With the encouragement of local government, we will work harder to achieve more in the future," he added.

Lin Jinbiao, head of the Putian City Arts Institute, said the Putian city government has spent 300,000 yuan to produce a new Puxian opera masterpiece.

There are now more than 100 non-governmental Puxian opera troupes in Putian alone.

"The Putian city government has decided to invest more than 100 million yuan to invite old artists to teach young people their art and to build a theater for Puxian drama," said Lin Jinbiao.

Lin Ruiwu with the cultural bureau of Fujian Province believes market demand, along with government support, has contributed to the boom of privately owned local opera troupes in this coastal province.

Local operas, which are sung in local dialects, are a lively and effective way of transmitting historical and cultural knowledge, especially for people who are illiterate, according to Liu Yanjun, a researcher with China Arts Institute.

In China's modernization drive, local operas have had to face the challenges posed by other popular forms of entertainment, such as electronic games, but they continue to have a big following, especially in rural areas, said Liu.

Wang Yifu, vice governor of Fujian Province, said at a recent seminar on protection and development of local operas that the government plans to increase funding for the art in coming years.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2007)