The man who journeyed to the heart of Peking Opera
China DailyPeking Opera trainee Nadim Diab ; Peking Opera actor Yu Huikang. This sums up the rigorous training required for Peking Opera, the vivid, highly stylized ancient Chinese art form with a history of more than 200 years, which combines music, dance, drama, acrobatics and martial arts. For Nadim Diab, or Li Long as his Chinese name, a Lebanese who lives and works in Beijing, he seems to have the adage as his daily routine as he takes part in a 100-day training program by professional Peking Opera actors and actresses. On Dec 1, Diab, along with Peking Opera actor Yu Huikang, performed an excerpt of Peking Opera piece, San Cha Kou, or At The Crossroads, which follows Ren Tanghui, a warrior escorting Jiao Zan, a Song Dynasty general, on his way to exile after Jiao was framed for a crime.