小朋友当小演员 (Children as little performers)

I was shown this clip today in my Opera class, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to share it with you all. Take a look! 


This is a opera po-po platter performance put on by children, all of whom appear to be under the age of 10. Since most of you can't read the captions, here's a breakdown of the performers' ages and the types of opera that they're singing
1) 6-year old boy singing 黄梅戏 (Huangmei xi), or opera from Anhui Province
2) 2 1/2-year old (!!), not sure what he's singing
3) 7-year old girls singing 越剧 (Yueju), or Zhejiang Opera
4) 5-year old boy doing a traditional mask-changing stint. (my theory: MAGIC?)
5) one 5-year old and three 7-year olds singing 京剧 (Jingju), or Beijing Opera.


So most of you probably haven't seen any Chinese Opera before, but I can tell you that these kids are all really good. They're also in full costume: clothing, makeup, headdresses, all the way down to their little shoes. I can't help but be amazed and terrified at the same time. These poor children! Shouldn't they be outside playing? 


The first thing I thought of when I watched this was the Beijing 2008 Olympics opening ceremony. While China has its issues, you've got to hand it to them, they've got the people, power, and discipline to get crazy things done. Don't you forget it, either!