Eleven national Beijing Opera troupes, competed for honors here Friday in the hope earning government financial support and in an effort to promote the declining 200-year-old performance art.

It was the first time Beijing Opera troupes competed for a national award, said Yu Ping, a senior official with the Ministry of Culture.

The 11 troupes are from different provinces and regions, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hubei, Shandong, Yunnan, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, and Liaoning. They were evaluated by experts and governmental officials for their artistry and production values.

Yu said the 11 troupes will receive government financial support of 20 million yuan (around US$2.4 million).

"This amount far less than the financial support the troupes receive from their local governments," Yu said. Local governments set up special funds to help build theaters for their opera troupes costing 100 million yuan (around US$12 million).

"The competition enabled us see other troupes and compare what we are doing in our troupe," said Wu Jiang, president of China Beijing Opera Theater. "It will also help us develop new ways of presenting Beijing Opera."

Beijing Opera, developed out of many different local operas in China such as Kunqu opera and Qin Opera which flourished in late Qing Dynasty(1644-1911). Beijing Opera, with its colorful facial makeup and complicated singing and dialogue, was known as the quintessential Chinese performance art form.

However, Beijing Opera has bee in decline for some years as it competes with television and the Internet.

Hoping to revive Beijing Opera, China held the first Beijing Opera Festival in 1995, and later financed a dozen new productions. In Chang'an Opera Theater in Beijing, a performance by well-known Beijing Opera artists is likely to be 90 percent sold out.

Yu said last week's competition among Beijing Opera troupes is a good step toward reviving the art. Beijing Opera troupes will be reevaluated every three years.

According to Yu, China has more than 80 Beijing Opera troupes.

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2006)