ZHENGZHOU, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Xue Shanchu, 67, gets up early in the morning and goes to wait at the village entrance. He has heard a traveling troupe will arrive to perform a Yuju opera performance.

Many villagers like Xue swarm to the site, where a stage on a caravan is being prepared.

"We can't call it a Spring Festival if there is no opera," says Xue, from a village of Yanling County, central China's Henan Province.

Chinese people have a tradition of watching opera, especially when celebrating Spring Festival, but opera performers were once the preserve of royal families and the rich, with performances rarely seen in rural areas.

As China has better developed cultural life in rural areas, farmers now have much more chances to enjoy opera.

With gongs and drums wildly beating, the performance starts with the best-known program "The Legend of Mulan."

Hua Mulan was a legendary Chinese heroine of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589), who took her elderly father's place in the army, disguised herself as a man, and fought in wars for 12 years, gaining great honor.

Performers in costume and makeup move and sing, drawing applause from the audience. Some of the farmers in the audience even sing with the performers.

Yuju opera, a traditional music form originating in Henan, has a history of over 500 years.

Jia Yanhua, head of the troupe, calls the big caravan a "transformer." It carries performance luggage when it moves, and when it stops it transforms into a 140-square-meter stage decorated with lights. The caravan has been in service for 11 years.

The troupe from Yanling County dates back to the late 1950s, when performers carried their stage props on tricycles for performance tours.

"Live opera shows were so rare in rural areas that people even climbed onto trees to watch," recalls Wen Furong, 73, one of the performers.

To date, the troupe has been to over 200 counties in seven provinces, performing around 50,000 times. In 2017 alone, the number of free shows in rural areas or school campuses reached 600.

Wen says that in addition to the Yuju opera troupe, farmers now also welcome dance and circus troupes.

"Despite diverse choices, they still like our shows. We often receive fruit or melon as a gift," he says.

The "No. 1 central document" released earlier this year encourages cultural development to better serve farmers.

Shi Shuling, 55, former head of the troupe, returned to the stage immediately after retirement.

"The figures with distinctive characters are so charming. I just can't make myself leave the stage," she says.