Posted 2012/3/27
As president of the Guiyang Municipal Peking Opera Troupe, Hou Danmei is known for her persistent efforts in innovating Peking Opera, China's national artistic essence. With her deep passion and commitment to the art form, Hou has attained noticeable artistic achievements in Peking Opera.
Born in Guiyang, capital city of Southwest China's Guizhou Province in September 1965, Hou is a first-class actress at the State level, having garnered many titles and awards. She received the 10th "Plum Blossom Award" in 1993 and was inducted as a member of the "10 Outstanding Youths of Guizhou" in 1994. In 1998 Hou was elected as a member of the People's Congress of Guizhou Province and in 2000 she was named a "model worker" at the national level. Hou was awarded the "Bai Yulan Award" for the leading role in her performance in 2002. This year, "Jinguo Hongyu," starring Hou, will compete for the "Wenhua Award" from the Ministry of Culture. The play has also helped Hou obtain a first-class award for her 
performance in the Third China Peking Opera Arts Festival.
However, Hou is not satisfied despite all of her great achievements. She has always been very creative and imaginative in interpreting Peking Opera, and even once attempted to sing Peking Opera in English, stirring great controversy. But her many attempts have definitely brought some fresh, new ideas to developing the traditional art form, despite small setbacks.
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Hou is known as an established dan actress (a female character in traditional Chinese opera). But her strengths also span other roles. She acted the role of Guan Yu, for example, a typical character of tremendous masculine vigor, who has always enjoyed a high position in Chinese opera circles. In the olden days, there was even a policy that prevented women from taking on this role. But Hou performed the role very well, receiving favorable reviews in a television programme.
Recently, Hou has been looking into bringing Peking Opera to Broadway.
"Chinese Peking Opera has never been staged on Broadway," says an ecstatic Hou. "Now, I am planning to take the innovated edition of 'Legend of the White Snake' to New York. An American born Chinese living in Hong Kong, who is also a Peking Opera fan, has just finished the script. If the operation is successful, the best actors all over the country and I will take part in the performance."
