While most delegates attending the on-going National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference sessions are focused on how to rein in soaring commodity and housing prices, NPC deputy Mao Weitao is speaking up for the future of traditional Chinese operas.

Mao, who is a Shaoxing Opera artist, has seen her industry struggle from lack of interest and dwindling support over the past decade as the leader of the Zhejiang Shaoxing Opera Troupe. She said that she had hoped to ask for more financial support from the government over past NPC and CPPCC sessions, but this year, she wanted to have her voice heard and gain more policy support.

A nation can't be considered powerful without its own specific cultural expressions, Mao said.

In 2008, only 80 genres of traditional Chinese operas were still in good run, while the rest were disappearing or had already perished, Mao said. China had as many as 360 genres in 1959, according to a survey by the Chinese Dramatists Association. A survey by the Opera Institute of China Art Academy during the 2002-05 period found the number dwindled to 267.

Mao suggests that television channels promote the operas with programs and that the government lower the taxable portion of donations.

Traditional Chinese opera can be a way for people to gain a deeper understanding of traditional Chinese culture, Mao said.

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