The 7th Shandong Chinese Opera Competition is unveiled at Wenshang county, southwest Shandong province, on Sept 2. [Photo/WeChat account: sdfyfb]

The 7th Shandong Chinese Opera Competition was unveiled at Wenshang county, southwest Shandong province, on Sept 2.

A total of 25 participants showed their beautiful voice at the competition, including two kinds of Chinese operas: Shandong bangzi and Beijing opera.

Shandong bangzi or wooden clapper opera is popular in the rural areas of Shandong province, and was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in May 2006.

Aiming to promote traditional Chinese culture and discovering outstanding opera singers, the competition has attracted more than 1,000 applicants, 312 of whom have been selected to attend the competition after going through a screening process of two months.

The competition includes 12 sub competitions where more than 10 different traditional Chinese operas will be performed, including Beijing opera and Liuqin opera. The discussed competition is one of the 12.

Top 10 participants are expected to reach the final of a nationwide Chinese Opera Competition.

The Shandong Chinese Opera Competition was sponsored by the publicity department of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and Shandong Federation of Literary and Art Circles.