After imitating the songs he heard the old men in the neighborhood singing, the school accepted him. "I was better looking than I am now," he says, his long white hair combed neatly back. "They checked your bones, your looks and your voice," he says. Growing up motherless in a poor family, he was 10 when a neighbor noticed he could sing and brought him to a nearby Peking Opera school. His most recent show was last year.īut fame came only after many years of hard training. His apartment in a concrete housing complex here is decorated with enlarged photos of his performances. People who don't know me think I am a crazy old man," he says, chuckling as he snaps open his white hand-painted fan.Īt 80 he is still one of Peking Opera's leading lights. By the time I reach the streets, I am singing Peking Opera arias.
Wang Jinlu is in character from the moment he opens his apartment door.
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