Liyuan Opera

Liyuan opera took shape around Quanzhou in the Song and Yuan dynasties and is one of the oldest surviving Chinese operas, retaining many southern-drama plays and stage forms.

It has three schools and follows codified movement systems such as the 'eighteen step patterns', with singing based on Quanzhou-dialect Nanyin, plain yet refined.

Called a 'living fossil' of southern drama and valuable for tracing the origins of Chinese opera, it entered the first national ICH list in 2006.

Quanzhou has a professional Liyuan opera troupe that regularly stages classic plays in local theatres.