new from old

　　yang ning performs peking opera.

　　peking opera used to sound strange to dou yi.

　　the 14-year-old beijinger said whenever she came across peking opera on tv, she changed the channel (頻道). like most of today’s teenagers, dou loves pop music.

　　but since dou entered the xuanwu branch school of beijing no 15 middle school, she has been studying peking opera in music class every week.

　　dou and her classmates listen to peking opera and learn the basics from professional (專業(yè)的) actors. they also sing along with the operas.

　　"we laugh sometimes because the tunes (調(diào)子) are really hard to learn," said dou. but she said that now she would watch peking opera on tv.

　　"after all, i am no longer a total layman (門外漢)," she said.

　　china’s traditions

　　since 2008, schools around the country have been teaching students peking opera. it’s part of a plan to introduce young people to the country’s artistic traditions (藝術(shù)傳統(tǒng)). obviously, dou’s school has been taking the job seriously.

　　yang ning, 14, is dou’s classmate. she has been studying peking opera since she was 8. she is a member of the school’s peking opera club.

　　yang said she has learned a lot from peking opera.

　　"i learn a lot of history from the operas," she said. "i’ve also found out about many ancient poems (詩詞), since there are so many of them in the operas."

　　yang doesn't think everyone can master singing peking opera, but she does say that it's valuable for all people to learn about it.

　　"the more you learn about it, the more you understand it. if people do study it, this old art form won't disappear. it would be a great pity if it did!" she said.