When asked where ancient opera theaters lie in Beijing, old residents might recommend the south of the capital.

When Emperor Qianlong (1711-99) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) celebrated his 80th birthday in 1790, four major troupes from east China's Anhui Province were invited to the nation's capital.

Known as Huiban, these troupes were able to combine their own operatic art with that already popular in Beijing. The result is the Peking Opera named Jingju, which first appeared in 1876.

There were about 40 opera theaters in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty, mostly located to the south of the Forbidden City.

But only a few such old theaters remain open today.

It is no longer easy to find a traditional opera theater where devoted fans applaud every pose and aria of their beloved stars in a relaxed atmosphere.

To see Peking Opera, people have to go to brand new theaters that stage a mixed repertoire adapted to suit the tastes of the modern, and largely foreign, audience.

Although the ancient theaters all had a glorious past, sadly they are now either out of business or even demolished.

Guanghe Theater in disuse

Lying to the south of Tian'anmen Square, Qianmen Street runs through a densely populated area that still has many intertwining hutongs.

A colorful and delicately-engraved memorial archway stands majestically at the street's northern entrance.

Not far away from the archway runs Roushi Street, within which visitors will find a dilapidated gray concrete building with its gate firmly shut.

It appears to be nothing more than a rundown and very ordinary cinema. But the discolored signboard, though, reveals that it used to be the famous Guanghe Theater.

"It has been out of business for more than four years," Yang Dianbo, a man in his mid-40s on duty at its reception told China Daily.

He added that the theater closed in 2000 when the Beijing Architecture Design and Research Institute ruled that the building was on collapse and must close for the sake of audience safety.

Yang is one of the seven people maintaining the theater since it closed.

But no actual opera performances were staged there between 1996 and 2000, said Li Kaijun, manager of Guanghe.

Facing an ever shrinking opera performance market, Guanghe relied more heavily on sidelines, such as screening movies, holding dances and video games since the late 1980s in order to make both ends meet.

The percentage of revenue earned from these sidelines rose from 80 per cent in the early 1990s to nearly 100 per cent before its closure in 2000.

The once famous opera theater had become a theater without opera.

Guanghe Theater is of great significance to opera fans. It was here that master Mei Lanfang launched his splendid career at the tender age of 10 a century ago. He starred as the girl weaver in the show titled "Palace of Everlasting Youth: Secret Betrothal at the Magpie Bridge."

According to Hou Xisan, an opera theater expert, Guanghe's history dates back at least 350 years, and it is regarded as Beijing's oldest opera theater.

Zhalou, or Zha Building, is the old name of Guanghe, suggesting that it was originally built and owned by a salt businessman surnamed Zha during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

After its reconstruction in 1955 on its original site, it was a leading opera theater. Important performances were often staged there in the 1960s and 1970s.

Despite witnessing the initial success of Peking Opera, the theater's golden age is now just a memory. Sadly, ancient opera has suffered from a similar decline.

"We are still waiting for the government to rebuild Guanghe," said Li, adding that the Guanghe Theater's reconstruction is part of the overall project to renovate Qianmen Street.

Due for maintenance

The 300-year-old Zhengyici Opera Theater has suffered from a similar fate. It was closed over a year ago.

"When SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) struck Beijing last year, the theater was shut down due to the lack of an audience," Zhu Hongjiang, deputy-manager of Zhengyici, told China Daily.

Zhengyici was first built in the Ming Dynasty as a temple honoring Lord Guan, a title for Guan Yu, a renowned general of the Three Kingdoms Period (222-280).

It was rebuilt into an opera theater during the reign of Qing Dynasty Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722).

Its wooden structure dates back over 300 years, with an old-style Chinese stage, which is square with two poles on either side at the front, and the audience seated on three sides.

So it is widely acclaimed as a living relic of Chinese opera history. Nearly all leading opera stars performed on its stage.

It fell into disuse in 1937, when Japanese troops invaded and occupied Beijing. It was not until October 1995 that the stage was reopened for Peking Opera performances.

Zhu admitted that Zhengyici has been faced with a dilemma in recent years.

"If an opera theater totally depends upon the Peking Opera performances, it really cannot survive," said Zhu.

The municipal government decided to grant the theater more than 5 million yuan (US$604,000) to renovate its ageing stage and seating, said Zhu.

But this maintenance project is yet to begin, as the theater need to find construction companies specializing in the preservation of cultural relics.

Though Zhu believes that the present small stage and 100-odd seats are not suitable for large-scale performance, he said he can not freely expand the size of the structure, as it has been a municipally-protected cultural relic since 2000.

Every alteration to the interior structure must strictly adhere to safety standards.

He added that insufficient parking facilities also restrict the growth of Zhengyici, which lies on the narrow Xiheyan Street near Hepingmen to the west of Tian'anmen.

As more people can afford their own cars in China, easy access and parking is becoming an increasingly important factor when audiences choose entertainment venues.

He also blamed poor management for the worsened situation.

Just like Guanghe Theater, the most urgent matter for Zhengyici is to start the maintenance project as soon as possible.

Troubling times

Also an ancient opera theater, the Huguang Guild Hall has been successfully staging Peking Opera since 1996. In fact it might be the most famous and prosperous opera theater at present in Beijing.

Being a municipal level cultural relic, this traditional opera theater is credited as one of the 10 most important wooden theaters in the world.

A huge sculpture of four painted Peking Opera masks stands at the southwestern corner of a square at the Hufangqiao Street in Xuanwu District. The opera theater, built in 1830 at the guild hall built in 1807, lies within.

"Peking Opera performances are Huguang's major business," said theater manager Huo Jianqing.

Excerpts from Peking Opera are staged here every evening, with about 60 per cent of the total 260 tickets normally sold.

Besides Peking Opera, Huguang has some other businesses, such as an opera museum and a restaurant. Compared to Zhangyici, it is much larger in business scale.

"Foreign tourists are our main audience," Huo said. About 80 per cent of the revenue comes from foreigners.

One ticket usually costs more than 120 yuan (US$14.5) with the VIP price of 580 yuan (US$70). Such a high price is obviously too much for ordinary Peking Opera fans in Beijing.

During the daytime at weekends, visitors will be surprised to find the theater full of old Peking Opera fans. Tickets cost just 20 yuan (US$2.4) at this time.

But Huo maintains that the theater is mainly targeted at foreigners, rather than domestic audiences.

A potential problem facing Huguang is the volatile tourist market, something like SARS could totally freeze business.

In addition, the tourist market is fiercely competitive. Kung fu shows and acrobatics performance, for example, are also quite attractive to foreign tourists.

"What is most troublesome for us now is the maintenance of this cultural relic," said Huo.

Around 100,000 yuan (US$12,000) is spent annually on Huguang's maintenance. But that is only enough for regular checks and repairs. Huo said that if the theater needs large-scale maintenance, he does not think that Huguang would be able to foot the bill.

Huo hopes that Huguang may not need as much maintenance as Zhengyici, and is thankfully in a better condition than either Guanghe or Zhengyici.

(China Daily August 10, 2004)