[Photo provided to China Daily]

Artists from two established Peking Opera troupes — the National Peking Opera Company and the Peking Opera Theater of Beijing — will present Peking Opera melodies on Jan 1 at the Great Hall of the People, to mark the New Year.

The lineup will include established Peking Opera artists such as Li Weikang, Geng Qichang and Li Mingyan as well as younger artists Tan Zhengyan and Dou Xiaoxuan.

The highlights of the show will include actress Li Weikang performing the Peking Opera piece Harmony Through A Royal Marriage.

Li Weikang, 69, has been with the National Peking Opera company since 1966 and won the First China Plum Blossom Prize in 1984, the country's top award for stage performance.

Return of the Phoenix, one of the most famous Peking Opera pieces performed by the late Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), will be performed by Hu Wenge, an apprentice of the son of Mei Lanfang, Mei Baojiu (1934-2016).

The Mei family is known for the Peking Opera art form nan dan, in which men play women's roles.

Hu, 49, who earned fame playing a female pop singer, took to Peking Opera at the age of 34 and now carries forward the Peking Opera performance techniques of the Mei school.

Among the younger generation of stars, Tan Zhengyan was born in 1979 in Beijing and started studying Peking Opera at a young age. He is a sixth-generation descendant of Peking Opera master Tan Xinpei (1847-1917). Tan Zhengyan’s father, Tan Xiaozeng, was also a Peking Opera artist, who carried on the family tradition.

During the show, Tan will perform Zhantaiping, which is based on the legend of patriotic general Hua Yun of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

Meanwhile, Dou will perform Xie Yaohuan, a role based female officer Xie Yaohuan from the later Tang Dynasty (618-907). Like Tan, Dou is an actor from Peking Opera Theater of Beijing.