Playground, directed by Cui Hao, is performed by students from Peking University. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Jin Shifei, then a freshman majoring in computer science and technology at Tsinghua University, walked by the student canteen and was intrigued by groups of students handing out brochures about different campus clubs to recruit new members.

"I was attracted by the students of the drama club immediately because their voices were much louder than those of the other students," recalls Jin.

He joined the drama club and started from scratch to learn about theater. Recalling his first experience with drama, he says that it was full of surprises.

"Before university, I had no idea about what I was going to do in the future. With the drama club, I discovered a passion for the arts and decided to pursue drama as a lifelong career," says Jin.

That was back in 2005. Jin is now 29 and working with renowned Chinese theater director Tian Qinxin. But over the past decade, Jin has become a major promoter of his old drama club－the Tsinghua drama troupe established in the 1920s.