At the beginning of this year, Beijingers flocked to the city's famous Guangde Lou Teahouse, just to enjoy the cross-talk of Guo Degang. Now, residents of the capital city, have shifted from cross-talk to another time-honored local art -- Jingyun Dagu or narrative musical performances in the Beijing dialect that are accompanied by drums. And, among the new fans of the traditional art are many young people. Our reporter Zhou Jing has more on the story.
As the only venue in town where Jingyun Dagu shows are regularly held, the Guangde Teahouse inside Beijing's Qianmen Gate has been packed on recent Sunday afternoons. And don't be surprised that over half of the audience members are young people. 26-year-old Mr Wang is among them.
"I like traditional Chinese art, for example cross-talk, Peking Opera and Jingyun Dagu. Both the music and singing part of Jingyun Dagu require great skills."
After having loved the art for years, Mr Wang has even become a quasi performer.
But most of the young audience members are not as professional as Mr Wang. Also in the audience, I met several students from Peking University watching Jingyu Dagu for the first time. They were introduced to the traditional art through Guo Degang's cross talk.
"I actually began to like Jingyun Dagu through cross-talk. Because there are many bits of singing from Jingyun Dagu in cross-talk performances. I thought it charming and found more pieces to listen to. And then I totally fell in love with it."
Saved from the embarrassment of being forgotten thanks to support from the younger generation, the traditional art is gradually reviving in Beijing.
Bai Wei is the director of the Beijing Quyi Troupe.
"The teahouses have been packed recently. Many enthusiastic young students and white collar workers have called us and asked us to arrange more performances. We, ourselves are actually more confident in the traditional art."
(CRI.com August 15, 2006)
