For centuries, Sichuan Opera has been more than entertainment — it’s a deeply rooted passion of the Sichuan people. From the bustling teahouses of Chengdu to rural village stages, locals gather to watch mesmerizing face-changing, fire-spitting, and witty dialogues performed in their beloved Sichuan dialect. As one folk artist put it, before television, Sichuan Opera was "what people ate for dinner". Even today, elderly fans sip tea and hum along to classic arias, keeping this 300-year-old tradition alive。
I first witnessed the depth of this love in a small Pengzhou teahouse. The room was packed with elderly men and women, some clutching their porcelain teacups, others tapping their feet to the rhythm of gongs and drums
. A performer on stage was singing a classic aria from The Legend of the White Snake, his voice soaring and dipping like the winding rivers of Sichuan.
Beside me, an old man named Grandpa Zhang closed his eyes and nodded along. "I've been watching Sichuan Opera since I was a child," he told me. "In the old days, every festival, every wedding, every celebration — we had opera. It was our television, our cinema, our everything"
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He explained that Sichuan Opera is not just a show — it's a way of life. The dialect, the humor, the exaggerated expressions — all of it reflects the character of Sichuan people: passionate, resilient, and never afraid to laugh at themselves
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As the performance ended, the audience erupted in applause. Some even shouted "Bashi!" — the ultimate Sichuan compliment meaning "perfect"
. That night, I understood: for Sichuan people, Sichuan Opera is not just an art form. It's home.