They put on opera costumes and become ancient emperors and beauties; they take the costumes off and they are back to being ordinary farmers.

They are the amateur performers of Zhuanghu Opera Troupe, an opera company organized by local farmers in Songlin Town of Linqing City in East China`s Shandong Province.

The troupe mainly performs Chuiqiang, an ancient style of opera that has heavily influenced both Peking Opera and Qinqiang, which are prevalent in northern China.

Chuiqiang, which literally means "blowing tone" in Chinese, is named after the main instruments used in the opera - the flute and sheng, both traditional Chinese wind instruments.

The Zhuanghu Opera Troupe was established 100 years ago. The troupe is made up of 40 performers, all of them local farmers, who are able to perform more than 40 episodes of the opera.

Performers and villagers alike have cherished more than 60 hand-written scripts that farmers have passed down through the generations over 100 years.

The lines of the scripts all follow strict principles of ancient operas and flow in elegant old Chinese. Although most of the young performers are unable to understand the words, instructions from the older actors help the young ones sing their lines well.

Tian Shiming is one of the few performers able to both read the scripts and play the flute. He says most of the scripts date back long before the troupe existed.

In 1850, he says, a man named Tian Huarong called upon some local people to copy and edit the scripts. Since then, villagers have kept the preserved scripts and handed them off to each new generation.

"As early as the Qing Dynasty, our village had the scripts, some of which are now kept in the Chinese Traditional Opera Research Institute in Beijing," Tian says proudly.

Zhao Lianzhong, in his 70s, one of the oldest actors in the troupe, takes great pride in what his group has accomplished on the stage.

"Except for the lighting and sound effects, everything about our troupe, including the instruments, costumes and props, is as good as the professional troupes," he says. "Our generation should not lose the opera we`ve inherited from our ancestors."

Village leaders have offered their full support for the troupe. They say the troupe is a great tradition for the village and has delighted the farmers, bringing much joy into their lives.

In addition to the traditional episodes, the troupe has been working on new programs telling modern stories, including a drama about Zhang Side, a soldier known as a model of morality after he died at work in 1944.

(China Daily 10/05/2007 page9)