Among various activities to celebrate China's second Cultural Heritage Day on June 9, 26 rarely seen traditional Chinese operas will be staged in Beijing. These operas can be seen as the representative of a fading cultural legacy.

China had 368 forms of traditional local operas, according to surveys conducted during the 1950s. Fifty years later, there were 267, a survey in 2005 by China Art Institute found. Among those left, more than 60 did not have audio or visual documents.

"We've made investigations on more than 200 local drama troupes across the country, 80 percent of which exist in name only," Liu Wenfeng, an official with China Art Institute, said.

He also tried to give explanations to the condition. Traditional operas, in his understanding, are somehow in conflict with the economic development. The dramas came into being during the age of agriculture, and usually in undeveloped areas. With industrialisation and urbanization being the themes of today, the traditional art is losing its market, audiences, and even apprentices.

Liu argues local governments should come to the rescue by creating policies for the inheritance of the cultural legacy. Traditional operas should also be included within the basic education system, to give them larger audiences.

"Traditional dramas may no longer be part of the mainstream arts," Liu said. "But they can be kept alive as long as Chinese culture has a place in the world."

He noted in many parts of the country, such as the southeast coastal areas, local dramas are still popular.

Beside exhibitions and shows of traditional operas, this year's Cultural Heritage Day will see rewards going to those contributed to the preservation of local dramas, as well as the announcement of the first batch of national cultural protection areas.
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(CRI.cn June 9, 2007)