Future, hope

Over the past decade, Chen has devoted her energy to integrating Ganju Opera into people's lives and finding ways to popularize it.

"To make Ganju Opera popular, we must attract young people," Chen said. "With their support, Ganju Opera has a future and hope. If young people don't understand or like it, how can Ganju Opera survive and be passed down?"

Chen walks the walk. The class's increasing popularity is a far cry from its humble beginnings when students seldom attended. One of her strategies was to apply for school funding to create an online course with a professional team featuring multimedia resources to catch attention.

She then merged the class with stage performance. "In the online course, students learn theory; in the offline course, they listen to and participate in opera," she said.

Wang Shihuai, a student majoring in performance at the university, was also impressed by Chen's class.

"At first, I thought the teacher would use videos to teach, but she personally demonstrated with props, involving everyone. Chen's classes intrigued me to Ganju Opera," Wang said. "I was told that I would have more systematic courses to learn Ganju Opera movements in the next semesters. I will definitely seize the opportunity to study the traditional art form and appreciate its charm."