The cast features several renowned opera actors, including Sun Zhengyang, Yang Yanyi and Chang Guixiang, and young talents from Taiwan, such as Lynn Yu-lin Huang.

Lynn Yu-lin Huang is a promising Peking opera actress in Taiwan province.

Huang plays the leading female role in three operas: Su Yujuan in Shiwu Guan, a girl who is wrongly accused of murdering her father; Yu Lian in Love in the Wardrobe (Gui Zhong Yuan), a young woman who saves the life of Yue Lei, son of the general Yue Fei, by hiding him in her wardrobe; and Yan Xijiao in Capture Lover Alive (Huozhuo Sanlang), a beautiful woman killed by her outlawed husband because of extramarital affairs.

"Su Yujuan and Yu Lian are both kind and innocent. Su takes everything seriously and easily becomes nervous. I see myself in this character. Yu Lian has an agile mind and I like her," says Huang. "Yan Xijiao is quite challenging to play as we are very different personalities. She was a controversial figure, but I can see the lovely side of her. Her loyalty to her lover, even after death, gives the story a different perspective."

Huang began her association with Peking Opera at the age of ten. By then, she has already spent two years studying ballet. "Unlike most counterparts on the mainland, the opera performers in Taiwan do not have a strong family influence," she says.

Neither of Huang's parents was in opera or showbiz. She knew little about opera when she enrolled in a traditional Chinese opera school. "But the more I learnt, the more I fell in love with it," she says.

"The local Gezai Opera seems to have a mass basis in Taiwan, though Peking Opera is enjoying a surging popularity now, particularly among college students," she adds. "There are not as many amateur opera performers here as in Beijing. But the audience in Li-yuan's theater is steadily growing. Their support has been encouraging us to push the boundaries of the opera tradition."

One such experiment is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a Peking Opera for children. "It is an exciting experience. We will keep to the traditional, but on the other hand, we will see how far we can transcend it," Huang says.

Huang also dabbles in drama in her spare time. "In traditional opera, the audience pays most attention to the performers' costumes, make-up and tunes. By using the elements of drama, I want to bring a new dimension to the opera characters."

By Lin Qi