Xiju Opera

Xiju Opera, also known as Wuxi Tanhuang, is a local opera form originating from Wuxi, with a history that dates back to the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Alongside Huangmei Opera and Yueju Opera, Xiju Opera is one of the three major opera styles in East China. It reached its "golden age" in the 1950s and 60s when more than 40 Wuxi opera troupes were active in regions such as Jiading, Jinshan, Qingpu, and Fengxian in Shanghai, as well as Zhejiang province's Jiaxing and Anhui province's Langxi.

In the 1950s, the prominent educator Ye Shengtao (1894-1988) once wrote a poem and praised it as "The Plum Blossom of Taihu Lake". Xiju opera was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage on June 7, 2008.