On April 30, the Peking Opera Costume Exhibition was opened in the exhibition area on the second floor of the library of Jinnan Campus, Nankai University. A vivid Peking Opera costume appreciation salon was held at the same time. Liu Jia, Associate Dean of the College of Chinese Language and Culture and Professor from the Peking Opera Inheritance Base of Nankai University, together with Professor Wang Qin, expert of Peking Opera and Vice Principal of Tianjin Arts and Crafts Vocational College, led teachers and students of Nankai to appreciate the charm of Peking Opera up close. The magnificent Peking Opera costumes and their exquisite pictures attracted many partecipants.

Wang Qin firstly led the visitors to watch the graphic exhibition of Peking Opera costumes. In the graphic exhibition, representative works of Peking Opera costumes were selected and divided into five categories: gowns, armors, jackets and shorts, helmets, and shoes. The applicable scenes and artistic characteristics of each costume are all introduced in detail. Then the physical exhibits include exquisite Peking opera costumes, accessories and collections of Peking opera books, scientific research achievements of the Peking Opera Inheritance Base of Nankai University, etc., showing the long-time connection between Nankai University and Peking Opera.

Wang Qin vividly explained in detail the characteristics of each of the costumes and accessories in the exhibition and their representative characters. He said that Peking Opera costumes have profound cultural connotations and play an important role in presenting plots, shaping characters and enriching performance methods.

In the interactive session of the making up in Peking Opera style, the visitors, under the guidance and demonstration of Liu Jia and Wang Qin, put on costumes of different roles and performed the classic extract from The Legend of the White Snake, in which Xu Xian and the White Lady meet by the West Lake.

In front of the exhibition board of Peking Opera characters, the visitors took pictures and exchanged experiences.

In 2010, Peking Opera was selected as Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in the World Heritage List. The Peking Opera Costume Exhibition and Salon is hosted by the Nankai University Library and the Peking Opera Inheritance Base of Nankai University. It is one of the Intangible Heritage on Campus activities for the 11th Nankai Reading Festival. The exhibition will last until the end of May.

(Reported by Renming Qiao, Photographed by Xiangda Sun and Hongzhuang Lin, Translated by Junlin He, edited by Davide Francolino and JianjingYun)