It is unlikely that Zhang Shizheng will forget the spring of 1956.

As a teenage actor of Zhe-jiang Kunqu Opera Troupe, he made his first trip from the country's east to Beijing along with the troupe's other performers, including Kunqu Opera veterans Zhou Chuanying and Wang Chuansong. They were going to debut Fifteen Strings of Coins, a classic of the local opera, in the capital.

With its roots in Suzhou, in East China's Jiangsu province, Kunqu is among the country's earliest operas. It combines singing, dancing and acting.