During the Qing Dynasty, a new term emerged in the history of Chinese opera: Liyuan Guild Hall. Chinese opera has always had an alias, “Liyuan”, and opera actors are also known as “Liyuan disciples”. Initially, the Liyuan Guild Hall was a trade union organization and spiritual home for opera artists. With the development of the times, Chinese opera has become a gem of China’s traditional art and is one of the important forms of folk culture. There are a wide variety of interesting opera genres, and the performance forms combine singing, dancing, talking, and martial arts, integrating “singing, acting, reciting, and fighting”, making it unique in the history of world drama.
The Liyuan Guild Hall – Intangible Cultural Heritage Sichuan Opera Face-Changing Performances are now held in two venues in Chengdu. The Chunxi Road Taikoo Li store is adjacent to the city center’s core business district, and the Wenshu Yuan store is located in Wenshu Square, the central leisure and tourism area of Chengdu. The guild hall originated after the “Wenchuan Earthquake” in 2008. To entertain opera fans, it spontaneously organized “public-benefit performances”, which became the spiritual pillar for countless opera lovers during that special period. It adheres to the belief of “living for oneself and singing for the audience”.
Today’s Liyuan Guild Hall is not only a “Sichuan Opera Training Base” for national intangible cultural heritage but also jointly established a public welfare fund for the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage Sichuan Opera with the Chengdu Charity Federation, contributing its part to the inheritance of Sichuan Opera culture. It initiated the “Intangible Cultural Heritage Sichuan Opera Parent-Child Special Session”, attracting many parent-child families to get close to and understand Sichuan Opera.
The Liyuan Guild Hall focuses on Sichuan Opera and promotes the reputation of “Sichuan Opera being renowned across the country”. Here, you can enter both the front stage and backstage, have close contact with artists, and watch colorful Sichuan Opera performances such as face-changing, fire-spitting, rolling lamp, kung fu tea art, puppet shows, shadow puppetry, etc., to feel the charm of traditional culture.
The Liyuan Guild Hall makes friends through the hall, gathering famous domestic opera masters and actors here. While presenting authentic Sichuan Opera culture to tourists coming to Sichuan, it also creates special sessions of classic operas from various regions and gathers performances of folk unique skills.
The Liyuan Guild Hall has lofty aspirations. You can watch operas, taste tea, and sample local special snacks here. If you are an “opera lover”, you can act as a famous actor here and experience the saying, “One minute on stage requires ten years of practice off stage”. If you come because of your “interest”, you are welcome to join the “Liyuan disciples”, and let’s jointly inherit and carry forward Chinese opera culture.
The Liyuan Guild Hall welcomes your arrival! It is open from 09:00 – 23:00 throughout the year; on New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Festival, Labor Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Day, it is open from 06:00 – 23:59.
