STORY: Young Kyrgyz experiences "Kung Fu" in Chinese opera
SHOOTING TIME: File
DATELINE: Nov. 18, 2023
LENGTH: 0:02:15
LOCATION: TAIYUAN, China
CATEGORY: CULTURE/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE (English): DRIAGIN VLADIMIR, Kyrgyz student, Taiyuan University of Technology

STORYLINE:

SOUNDBITE (English): DRIAGIN VLADIMIR, Kyrgyz student, Taiyuan University of Technology
"My name is Driagin Vladimir. I'm from Kyrgyzstan. I am 22 years old. I'm studying international trade in Taiyuan University of Technology. I am very interested in Chinese culture. And I have stayed in China already for 5 years. This is why I can communicate with Chinese people very fluently. During my study in China, I learned paper-cutting, Taijiquan, which left a deep impression on me. 
From my friend's introduction, I learned that Chinese opera has a long history. Opera actors should not only be able to sing but also practice the 'basic skills' of movement, from hair to toes. Some of them are like Chinese Kung Fu in the movies. Today, I came to Shanxi Vocational College of Art and followed the teachers and students here to have a class to experience it. 
Today, we start to learn from the hair. This skill is called 'Shaozigong,' also known as 'hair work.' An opera actor would tie a lock of long hair on the top of his head, called a 'faliu,' and shake it up on stage. 
This is not my own hair, this is a wig. It's hard to shake real hair. It's even harder to shake wigs. And the actor also has to shake the hair beautifully, to show the excitement of the character. This has to be in a certain way. 
In the process of an opera stage performance, you have to wear a costume, which is very complicated to put on. The costume I am wearing now is called 'mangpao,' which is the formal dress worn by the emperor and his counterparts in the play. It is often called 'official clothes.' 
It is said that opera actors should have ten basic skills. Today, I am exhausted just after feeling one. The actors are not easy. There is a saying in China that 'one minute on stage and ten years off stage.' If you want to get started, you need to listen more, see more, and experience more, and feel the profoundness of Chinese opera."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Taiyuan, China.
(XHTV)