[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In May, the ministries of culture, education and finance, together with the publicity department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, released guidance to strengthen training in traditional opera.

In addition, the Ministry of Culture has vowed to bring more traditional opera performances to rural areas, where it sees a large market.

"The repertoire of opera performances will be opened to the public in advance for feedback," said Zhang Yongxin, director of the ministry's public culture office. "We cannot just focus on how to serve the dish. Instead, we'd better let people choose the menu and let the government pay the bill."

Some provinces have succeeded in their attempts to revitalize traditional opera.

According to Ding Guangqing, deputy head of the cultural department of Anhui province, traditional opera performances are now on stage in each of the province's 15,000 villages at least once a year. Each performance costs the government at least 4,400 yuan ($648).