Beijing has more than 100 theatres and opera houses where opera fans would get a glimpse of the authentic Peking Opera. 

Liyuan Theatre

Liyuan Theatre is the first " Tea Theatre" in Beijing, which opened on October 8, 1990. Since then, many famous Peking Opera actors have performed here, promoting cultural exchange in the Peking Opera field. The Liyuan Theatre consists of a stage hall, an exhibition hall and and a sales hall. The performance hall contains a stage and a seating capacity of 800 people. Like a traditional theater, the audience can watch Peking opera while enjoying Beijing snacks and tea. The exhibition hall showcases the 200-year history of Peking Opera. In the sales hall, Peking Opera costumes, paintings and audio-visual products are available for sale.

The Liyuan Theater is famous abroad for its many performances that are easily understood by foreigners. Before the COVID-19 epidemic, many foreign visitors came here to enjoy the lifestyle of old Beijing. Enjoy an authentic Peking Opera performance over a cup of Chinese tea.

Address: No.175 Yong'an Road, Xicheng District, Beijing

Huguang Guild Hall

Built in the 12th year of Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty (1807 AD), the Huguang Guild Hall consists of buildings such as the Grand Opera House and Wenchang Pavilion, which used to be a meeting place for students and merchants from Hunan and Hubei provinces. With a long history and rich culture, the Huguang Hall plays an important part of the cultural heritage of Peking Opera. Many famous Peking Opera performers including Mei Lanfang and Tan Xinpei have performed here, making it a famous venue for Peking Opera performances. It is also said to be one of the most popular Peking Opera theaters for foreign visitors.

The theater is a traditional quadrangle building and the performances are easy to understand with English subtitles. The theater also offers tea and snacks.

The Huguang Guild Hall also contains an opera museum, which showcases the history of operas in Beijing, especially Peking Opera via documents, artifacts, photographs and video footage. The exhibits include reenactments of scenes of Mei Lanfang and Wang Yaoqing training with their teachers, and stage costumes once used by the famous actor Yang Xiaolou. There is also the Beijing Theatre History Museum (admission 10 yuan), which is free with a Peking Opera ticket.

Address: No.3 Hufang Road, Xicheng District, Beijing

Chang'an Grand Theatre

Located in the bustling area of Xidan, Chang'an Grand Theatre is a national theatre that combines ethnic classical architecture with modern technology with a total of 797 seats. It is mainly used for Peking Opera performances, as well as for traditional plays and dramas.

The theatre's lobby is inlaid with natural Italian marble, and an escalator leads directly to the auditorium on the second floor. The theatre also has a gallery of Chinese paintings and a souvenir store selling folk crafts and antique reproductions.

First-class troupe actors perform daily to provide an authentic Peking Opera experience. Most of the productions are traditional, but occasionally modern Peking operas are staged as well.

Address: No.7 Jianguonei Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing

National Peking Opera Company

Founded in January 1955, the National Peking Company is a national institution whose first director was Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang. The theater is affiliated with the First, Second and Third troupes, the Stage Arts Center, the Mei Lanfang Grand Theatre and the People's Theatre. For more than half a century, it has been producing Peking Opera repertoire, both traditional and innovative, with a total of more than 500 productions. The theatre is also an important venue for cultural communication and exchange with the world. The theater has visited more than 50 countries and regions on five continents for in-depth exchanges with them.

Address: No. 22, Ping'anli West Street, Xicheng District, Beijing

Zhengyici Peking Opera Theatre

Built in the 27th year of the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty (1688 A.D.), the Zhengyici Peking Opera Theatre is one of the most famous theatres for Peking Opera performances in Beijing. It is also one of the oldest intact wooden opera houses in China and has been almost perfectly preserved.

This completely wooden theatre building is still grandeur today. It is a three-story building opened on three sides. In order to create a unique atmosphere when staging an occult play, key ways are opened to the stage on both floors, and hanging hardware is installed. Zhengyici Peking Opera Theatre was originally the opera house of Zhejiang Merchant Silver House. It was initially used to entertain financial merchants from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. They would come here on New Year's Day and holidays to watch traditional folk operas such as traditional festivities and Mulian Opera. Later, with the birth of Peking Opera, this opera house became more popular.

During the Tongji period of the Qing Dynasty, many famous Peking Opera charismatic actors, such as Cheng Changgeng, Tan Xinpei and Mei Lanfang, once performed here. Therefore, the building is a historical witness to the formation and development of Peking Opera.

Address: No. 220, Xiheyan Street, Hepingmen, Xicheng District, Beijing

Sanqingyuan Opera House

In history, San Qing Yuan, together with Guang De Lou, Guang He Lou and Qing Yuan Yuan, were known as the "Four Great Opera Houses" of Peking Opera. San Qing Yuan is also known as one of the "Seven Great Peking Opera Houses" along with Guang De Lou, Guang He Lou, Qing Le Yuan, Tong Le Xuan, Qing He Yuan and Zhong He Yuan. It is said that where they were located in the area of Dashilar was the main settlement of the opera actors at that time. In its heyday, there were more than 30 opera troupes.

Here visitors can watch Peking Opera, taste Peking flavors, appreciate Peking objects, wear Peking clothes, view Peking houses, learn Peking arts, enjoy Peking scenery and reminisce about the city. It provides a comprehensive and rich experience of Beijing's flavor and culture in one stop.

Address: No. 18, Dashilar Street, Qianmen Wai, Beijing

Mei Lanfang Theater

Mei Lanfang Theater is located at the southeast corner of Guangyuan Bridge on Beijing's Second Ring Road, and is a modern medium-sized theater that combines traditional and modern arts perfectly. Built in November 2007, the theater is subordinate to the National Peking Opera Company. The theater covers an area of 13,000 square meters and consists of four floors, with a total of  993 seats in the theater.

In the center of the hall is a bronze statue of Mr. Mei Lanfang. Weighing 1.2 tons, the construction was completed in 2008. Mei Lanfang Theater is named after Master Mei Lanfang, who was the first director of National Peking Opera Company.

As an opera-themed theater, Beijing Mei Lanfang Theater has truly become a cultural venue to spread the art of opera and showcase the beauty of "national essence". It has given full play to the role as a bridgehead for promoting traditional opera culture and has become the main venue for opera performances nationwide.

Address: No. 32, Ping'anli West Street, Xicheng District, Beijing

Poly Theater

Poly Theater is located in the center of Beijing, enjoying a prime location. In October 2000, the theater was completely renovated. The renovated theater has two floors and 1,428 seats, including 108 movable orchestra seats.

Known for its high level of quality service and tasteful stage performances, the theater has become the first choice theater for many outstanding productions at home and abroad to perform in Beijing. In the past years, the theater has hosted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Russian National Ballet Theatre etc.

In addition, the Poly Theater hosts exhibitions of artworks related to the Poly Group. It is also equipped with a cafe and restaurant, but the prices are high. There are few restaurants around the theater and parking is limited. We recommend that you take the subway to get here.

Address: No.14 Dongzhimen South Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing