北京旅游景点简单英语对话(胡同和京剧)hongtong_and_opera.ppt

A hutong is an ancient city alley or lane typical in Beijing, where hutongs run into the several thousand. Surrounding the Forbidden City, many were built during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, hutong conditions improved. In recent years, the houses in many hutongs have been pulled down and replaced by modern buildings. One kind of hutongs, usually referred to as the regular hutong, was near the palace to the east and west and arranged in orderly fashion along the streets.Another kind, the simple and crude hutong, was mostly located far to the north and south of the palace. Many hutong dwellers have moved to new housing. The hutong today is fading into the shade for both tourists and inhabitants. However, in the urban district of Beijing houses along hutongs still occupy one third of the total area, providing housing for half the population, so many hutongs have survived. In this respect, we see the old in the new in Beijing as an ancient yet modern city. Siheyuan Siheyuan In recent years, more and more foreign dramas and operas are being performed in Chinese theatres. However, it seems that chances for foreign audience to enjoy Chinese traditional operas are relatively fewer, resulting in an unbalanced exchange between China and the other foreign countries in the world. Beijing Opera, the very repress introduced to more audience of Chinese traditional operas, worth being of the entire world. Although it is called Beijing Opera, its origins are not in Beijing but in the Chinese provinces of Anhui and Hubei.Beijing Opera (or Peking Opera) has existed for over 200 years. It is widely regarded as the highest expression of Chinese culture. It is known as one of the three main theatrical systems in the worldI During the second half of the 20th century, Beijing opera witnessed a steady decline in audience numbers. This has been attributed both to a decrease in performance quality and an inability of th