Cantonese Opera is a theatre art that developed in southern China. It is especially popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau, but has been performed all around the world. With a history that dates back to the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, this beautiful art form has pleased audience for hundreds of years.

Cantonese Opera developed during the 16th century by mixing many different opera styles that were popular at the time. It combined forms of opera from the northern provinces with local performance traditions in Guangdong. The unique combination of these different influences created a new kind of theatre.

In the early days of Cantonese Opera, many performances were on small stages in the countryside of the south-eastern provinces. As the art became more popular, performances were more often seen in city theatres. During the 20th century, Cantonese Opera became increasingly popular across the country, and many performers became quite famous.

Cantonese Opera is a wonderful mix (结合) of storytelling, music and fighting. The performances are often based on well-known traditional stories or events from Chinese history. The colourful sets serve as the background for these performances, and actors appear on stage in similarly colourful costurmes and face paint. Fights are a common and important part of many shows with actors performing difficult and exciting martial arts (武术) movements.

There are four key skills in Cantonese Opera: singing, acting, speeches and martial arts. Performers are usually trained in each of these areas, which makes this a very difficult art form. Because of its long tradition and its importance in the development of Chinese arts and culture, Cantonese Opera was included on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list (联合国教科文组织非物质文化遗产名录) in 2009.