Peking Opera

Peking Opera has entertained Beijingers for over 200 years with its elaborate costumes, ear-splitting arias, dazzling martial arts and musical dialogue. Most Peking Operas are unintelligible to the untrained viewer, but they are usually based on folk tales, famous novels and fairy tales and are a pleasure to watch if you know the basic story. Some of the bigger theaters have subtitle message boards in English and Chinese so even if you don't know the story you can still follow along. Characters are classified into three basic categories: the male roles, called "sheng", females roles or "dan", and clowns or "chou", the nature of each character is shown through the different colors of the facial makeup. You can get a good taste of what Peking Opera is all about at the Liyuan Theater in the Qianmen Hotel, Chang'an Theater, Huguang Guildhall, which features nightly performances that are a medley of different operas. The shows are light on the singing and concentrate more on action like tumbling and martial arts and are therefore more foreigner-friendly.

Art galleries

There are a great many number of art museums and galleries in Beijing . There are thousands of years of art to be explored in Beijing , and all styles are represented: from ancient calligraphy and landscape paintings, to ultra-modern abstract body art.

China Art Gallery

The museum boasts a rich collection of artistic master-pieces by famous Chinese painters and sculptors. It is also the most important venue for art exhibitions in the capital city. Some 100 Chinese and foreign exhibitions are held here all year round.
Add: 1 wusi Dajie
Open: 09:00-16:00
Bus: 111
Trolley: 109 112 103 104
Tel: 64016234

China Arts and Crafts

A large art gallery for the storage, exhibition, repurchase and sale of Chinese art and craft items. The fifth floor houses 500 craft masterpieces. The gallery is located in the same building as the Parkson Shopping Center .
Add: northeast side of Fuxingmen Overpass
Open: 9:00-16:30
Bus: 1 4 52
Tel: 66012024

Beijing museums