Yue opera (Chinese: 越剧; pinyin: Yuèjù), also known as Shaoxing opera, is a popular Chinese opera genre. Only Peking opera is considered more popular nationwide.
Originating in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male roles as well as femininity in terms of singing, performing, and staging. Despite its rural origin, it has found a second home in Shanghai, China´s most affluent city, where it managed to out-compete both Peking opera and the native Shanghai opera. As Yue opera uses is performed speaking in a variant of Wu, it is most popular in Wu-speaking areas including southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. In addition, the opera also has a sizeable following in Hong Kong due to Shanghainese migration to the city. Like its performers, Yue opera fans are mainly women, resulting in a disproportionate number of love stories in its repertoire and very little acrobatic fighting.
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