Suggestions from the two sessions: establish Chinese Opera Day

About 40 members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from 10 different circles suggested setting May 18 of each year as Chinese Opera Day.

Sun Ping, a CPPCC member, said that many young Chinese know much about Shakespeare's works, yet know little about Tang Xianzu's. Tang had a major influence on Chinese opera in the past hundreds of years. She noted that the phenomenon should be given more attention in the future.

"We need to carry forward the precious cultural heritage of China," said Cai Wu, CPPCC member and former cultural minister.

Traditional Chinese opera has hundreds of categories, among which some are "living fossils" of Chinese civilization. Yet it is facing the incapability of inheriting, developing and enhancing, and is losing large audiences and even some operas altogether.

In July 2015, the General Office of the State Council issued a document supporting the inheritance and development of Chinese opera. The document emphasized the safeguarding and continuity of the opera, the backup of the creation and performance to enhance the outreach of Chinese opera.