Audience gets into character

"Fewer and fewer people came to learn or watch the opera. Even though my grandfather and aunt kept organizing performances and activities, the museum gradually ran into operational difficulties," Zhang Ke says.

In early 2026, Zhang Ke and her elder brother began looking for a new way forward, combining traditional opera with the booming travel photography trend. The siblings taught themselves new-media operations and photography, and began promoting Dian Opera-themed portrait sessions online.

In June, as the short drama Enemy and TV series The Protagonist sparked renewed interest in traditional Chinese opera, the siblings invited models to shoot opera-inspired videos using a similar aesthetic. They casually added the hashtag "Kunming 'visa-on-arrival' experience".