"I want to do something for my hometown and hope that this project will be helpful to preserve Huagu Opera and xianziqiang," says Chen.

The performances were recently staged at the Red Flag Theater, which was the original location of the Pingli Opera Troupe. And actors like 85-year-old Zou Yili and 80-year-old Wu Ronghua performed there just like they did decades ago. Simultaneously, recording technicians were busy recording the show.

Yan Qingquan, deputy county chief of Pingli county, hopes to take the project further. "With the recording, we will help people to learn and spread the art, and cultivate talented people in this field, ensuring that the heritage does not die out," he says.

Meanwhile, giving details of other efforts to preserve the art forms, Chen Shangzhong, the director of the local cultural center, said that in the 1980s the operas were on the decline and members of the Pingli Opera Troupe had to find other jobs. But years later, the local cultural sector managed to pass on the art and established two troupes, providing a subsidy to the artists who would like to stay in the troupes,-and making them give performances to farmers and students.