Chinese Culture Festival 2025 to stage Henan Yuediao opera plays for first time in Hong Kong in June (with photos)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) 2025, organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), will stage Henan Yuediao opera, a regional operatic genre rarely seen by Hong Kong audiences, for the first time in late June. Shen Xiaomei, currently the leading exponent of the Yuediao opera, will lead a group of outstanding artists from the Henan Provincial Yue Diao Art Protection and Inheritance Center to Hong Kong to perform the classic plays “Jiang Wei Surrenders” and “Li Tianbao Gets Married”, showcasing the unique and traditional artistic charm of Yuediao opera with the best line-up of the troupe. This programme is also one of the 13th Chinese Opera Festival (COF) and the Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage Month 2025 events.

     Henan Yuediao is one of the three major Chinese opera genres in Henan Province. With a history of more than 300 years, it was inscribed onto the First National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006. Known for its distinctive vocal styles and intricate musicality, Yuediao opera is celebrated for possessing the rich artistic charm of “nine vocal tones, 18 variations, and 72 ending utterances”. The Shen School of Henan Yuediao has gained acclaim for its “Three Kingdoms” repertory, and Shen Fengmei, the founder of the Shen School, was famous for her unique portrayal of Zhuge Liang in female “xusheng” (bearded male) roles. —————————————————–
Date and time: June 27 (Friday), 7.30pm———————————————————
Date and time: June 28 (Saturday), 7.30pm