Audience gets into character

Two years ago, the Dian Opera Museum in Niujiezhuang, on the eastern outskirts of Kunming, Yunnan province, stood behind tightly shut gates, with dust gathering in its corners.

This summer, the museum has become one of Kunming's most talked-about cultural tourism spots, playfully dubbed a "visa-on-arrival" destination by visitors online. Behind its unexpected revival is the persistence of a family that has spent five generations preserving Dian Opera.