If you

want

to

watch

a

music

performance

that

combines

song,

dance,

and

striking

design,

just

forget

about

the

latest

pop

video.

Take

a

look

at

a

truly

original

style

of

musical

performance:

Chinese

opera.

Last

month

I

was

on

a

trip

in

Shanghai

was

5

staying

with

my

Chinese

friend

Mai

-Li.

She

insisted

that

we

до

to

the

Chinese

opera

andi

have

to

admit

the

experience

was

amazing

from

beginning

to

end.

Opera

has

a

long

history

in

China.

In

ancient

times,

actors

performed

the

operas

n

the

streets

on

10

temporary

stages

with

only

hanging

lanterns

for

lighting.

It's

funny

to

think

that

such

grand

art

started

out

like

that!

We

arrived

at

the

theatre

just

before

the

lights

went

down.