Zhang Jinlai, 57, better known as Liu Xiao Ling Tong, mimics a monkey's facial expressions. Zhang is a fourth-generation monkey opera performer in his family.[Photo by Jiang Dong/ China Daily]

But despite other portrayals of the monkey character, the Zhang family has had a firm grip on the role, with four generations of males specializing in it.

The family, from Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, practices the local version of Chinese opera. It caught the attention of top leaders including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai and secured a monopoly on the public imagination with the hit TV series in 1986.

Actors in other forms of traditional Chinese opera have also excelled in the role, now informally called "the monkey repertory".

Ghaffar Pourazar, an Englishman of Iranian descent, has done more than many to promote Peking Opera — and the monkey repertory in particular — to overseas audiences.

Some feel that Zhang has not been invited to the CCTV gala this year because, at 57, he is too old.

But that would be unusual for a show that has "thanks for the memory" appearances as a hallmark.