A teahouse favorite

According to Wu, although largely popular in southern China, the art form has gained fans in northern China.

"Despite the dialect barrier, audiences in northern cities are prepared to come to our shows. It all depends on the actors and actresses, who, with two chairs, one table and simply two musical instruments－pipa and sanxian, take the audiences through stories and switch roles," says Wu. "The atmosphere is relaxed."

Award-winning performer Wang Chiliang, 56, also a Suzhou native, who joined the Suzhou Pingtan Theater in 1987, says, "Pingtan performers take years to obtain solid performing skills and we need to make changes to lyrics and improvise the music according to audience response."

He will perform four pingtan songs in Beijing.

As a student of Liu Lanfang, a veteran artist of pingshu, a form of oral storytelling that dates back to the Song Dynasty, Wang has absorbed different performing styles and techniques, which allow him to meet the needs of audiences of both southern and northern China.

"For lots of Chinese quyi art forms, a great show is a result of the cooperation among performers and audiences. The response of audiences is crucial for the performers," he says. "We have to perform as much as possible to gain the ability to improvise. There is no shortcut."