Hong Kong is simply not just a business city but also full of hidden cultural treasures. Fact is, the Cantonese language, the mother tongue of Honghongers, preserves most of the pronunciations of the ancient Chinese language. Cantonese is the right language for studying ancient Chinese poems because it gives better insights into the phonetic devices used in those poems compared to studying them in Putonghua.
The gem of the Cantonese culture (which represents the Chinese opera genre of the south while the Beijing opera the of the north) is Cantonese opera. This is because Cantonese opera, as in most operas around the world, combines a great variety of cultural elements in a big pot: the phonetic devices, singing, acrobatics, music (instead of "do" to "so", the Cantonese opera music goes in 13 steps), Wusu, to name a few.
If you are interested in getting some idea about Cantonese opera, a Cantonese opera summer camp is going to stage some demonstrations and a finale performance. For details, check this out.
Alternatively, the demonstrations and performance include:
1) Dawn Radiance Opera Troupe performs The Ghost Wants to be Avenged (from A Ghostly Tale) and The Official Seal, Jul 21, 7.30pm, Tai Po Civic Centre, 12 On Pong Rd, Tai Po.
2) The Cantonese opera troupe also performs:
- The Gift of a Sword (from Baihua from Pavilion of a Hundred Flowers) and Three Duels Against the Skeleton Demon (from Journey to the West), Jul 22, 7.30pm; and
- Negotiating with the Qing Emperor and Sacrifice of a Princess (from Princess Chang Ping) and Cantonese Opera Summer Camp participants sing and perform scenes that include fighting with weapons and flicking their long sleeves, Jul 23, 7.30pm, Yuen Long Theatre, 9 Yuen Long Tai Yuk Rd, Yuen Long,
- ticket: HK$40 at Urbtix. Inquiries: 2268 7325
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