Though his pen name "Mo Yan" means "don't speak", the Nobel laureate had plenty to say about traditional culture and preschool education at the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The author said he grew up watching the form of folk opera known as maoqiang in his hometown of Gaomi, Shandong province, and featured the style in his 2001 work Sandalwood Death.

"It was so popular in the 1950s and 1960s that when a troupe came to my village, all the people would stop everything and rush to secure a seat. If a famous performer was due, the show would sell out many days in advance."