For now, though, the main problem with keeping Huagu Opera and xianziqiang alive is the lack of young people to take up the art forms. Wang has three apprentices, the youngest being 45. The other inheritor Wu Chengquan says his children have no interest in the art and have migrated to other places for work. "Some young people have interest in xianziqiang and would like to learn a bit, but nobody wants to be a professional," says Wu.

One ray of hope is the effort in Pingli county to combine the old art forms with modern elements, so tourists can now watch a performance designed on the basis of xianziqiang in a local tea plantation.

Speaking about this venture, Yuan Shoubo, the director of the county's culture and tourism bureau, says: "If we combine the local art with tourism, there will be more market value, which is also beneficial to the inheritance and spread of traditional local culture."