Life and Leisure

Peking Opera can come on wheels, too

By Kelly Chung Dawson (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-21 10:55

NEW YORK - Care for a side of traditional Peking Opera singing with that order of chicken fried rice, sir?

In a city of theatrics and theater, two hallmarks of the Chinese culture, food and Peking Opera, have been packaged and delivered to doorsteps for several years by a 52-year-old man who grew up during the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976).

Deliveryman Yang Yubao has been bringing food on a bike and dishing out tunes for China Fun restaurant customers in Manhattan's Upper West Side since 2008. The bit of opera singing is free with your meal, if you ask.

"Peking Opera is a national treasure, and it shouldn't be forgotten," Yang said. "America is this great mix of different people from different nations, different races and different cultures. In this environment, I feel honored to introduce Peking Opera."

Yang Yubao says Peking Opera is a type of music that is borderless. Provided to China Daily

Yang, like many Chinese immigrants living in Flushing, Queens, first fell in love with the style of singing during the "cultural revolution", when access was rare. After 1978, he began listening to opera on the radio. While working at a paper factory in Tianjin, he and a few fellow opera lovers began a singing group. The club met after work to practice and it was here that his love of performance solidified, he said.

After his move to the United States about eight years ago, he found work with China Fun. At a 2008 Chinese New Year's party, he impressed both his boss and the restaurant's customers with his singing. He began performing on deliveries shortly afterward. One witness to his performance began spreading the word among other China Fun regulars.

"Although we have trouble communicating because of the language barrier, I think that my performance makes Americans happy and surprised," Yang said. "I think they can see that I really mean it and care about it."

Last month Yang performed at New York's China Institute when the organization hosted a discussion about Peking Opera. The event, highlighted by senior lecturer Ben Wang's discussion about the history of the medium, was inspired by performance images showcased in a current exhibition at the institute titled Woodcuts in Modern China, 1937 -2008: Towards a Universal Pictorial Language. Wang also spoke about Peking Opera singer Mei Lanfang, who the institute sponsored in a tour of New York in the 1930s.

Yang performed three traditional Chinese vignettes that day - he said he is familiar with eight classic Peking arias. He said he only sings a small bit of each during deliveries.

Yang believes that his performances are his small contribution to cultural exchange. In tougher times, American music such as George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue also inspired him, pushing him to get up and keep moving, he said.

"So in a sense, it's an opportunity to give back to Americans in return for the American music that inspired me," he said. "I believe that Peking Opera is borderless."

China Daily