Make-up assistants help customers paint faces into a pink color like peach blossoms in a photo studio in Shanghai Jan. 1, 2007. They will take some pictures with their operatic images.

Peking Opera performance?
 
Shanghai people, who always lead the fashion in China, try to celebrate the forthcoming Chinese New Year in a unique way. Spending some 1,000 -2,000 yuan, many local people choose to go to a photo studio, dressed in Peking Opera costumes, to have a picture taken of their operatic image.

Early in the morning, some customers came into a photo studio of the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe and began to take make-up under the guidance of a professional make-up man. In about half an hour, the work was finished. Women's faces were then painted into a pink color like peach blossoms and men wore costumes that made them look handsome. A make-up man in the studio told this reporter that it took them at least three years to learn the skills of Peking Opera make-up, and even longer to learn to paint the face.

Mr. Shao came into the studio early in the morning. He wanted to dress like Lady Yang Yuhuan, a famous imperial concubine in the Tang Dynasty. Although he had gained much weight in his middle age, he turned out to be a beautiful woman with the help of the make-up man. His eyes became larger and his face was drawn into an oval shape, meeting traditional standards for a beautiful woman. He wore a phoenix coronet and an embroidered ceremonial shawl. Under the guidance of a teacher, he even learned to make "orchid fingers" and walk in quick short steps to demonstrate the grace and elegance typical of an ancient Chinese woman.

When men wanted to act like women, some female customers also wanted to dress like men. A woman, after dressing in the role of Mu Guiying, the heroine in the famous Peking Opera "Mu Guiying Takes Command", wanted to change her role into Xu Xian, the hero in the Peking Opera "Legend of the White Snake." Although she knew nothing of the lyrics and words in these operas, she wanted to act the role of the young male character and take a picture as a gift for her friends.

In the bustling make-up room, the reporter saw some Japanese Peking opera fans. The youngest Japanese girl who came to take pictures was only five years old. Accompanied by her mother, she wanted to dress like the little fairies in the Peking Opera "The Goddess of Heaven Scatters Flowers." Japanese man came to Shanghai from Hokkaido in Japan. He would dress like Wang Zhaojun, a beautiful princess who married an ethnic minority leader in the Han Dynasty.

In Japan, many people are Chinese Peking opera fans. When the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe went to Japan to give performance, lots of Japanese people traveled a long way to see the performance. Whenever the Chinese New Year was coming, some Japanese opera fans would visit Shanghai to see Peking operas and some would like to take some pictures with their operatic images, said Yan Qinggu, a renowned Peking Opera actor.

So far, about 100 people from the United States, Germany, and other countries have visited the photo studio of the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe for taking pictures.
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(Chinanews.cn January 5, 2007)