A dozen Kunqu websites including www.beikun.com, go8.163.com/yongkun/, www.kunqu.net opened recently, giving new momentum to this ancient opera. 　　

The websites, opened by official organizations, opera troupes and Kunqu lovers will play a very important role in popularizing Kunqu opera.

Many people download Kunqu opera from the Internet in the format of VQF or MP3.

A Kunqu chat room which had only five to six participants when it first opened in 1999 now has 940 members.

Kunqu, the 500-year-old Chinese Opera was listed as one of UNESCO's 19 masterpieces of 'Verbal and Non-Material Heritage".

Known also as the "watermill song" because of its soft arias and the graceful movement of its performers, the opera has been considered an elite opera since it was created in 16th century.

In its golden age, Kunqu was sung and loved by almost everyone in southern China. In Suzhou City, Kunqu was performed almost every night in the 17th and 18th centuries.　　

However, Kunqu, the mother of all Chinese Operas, lost popularity in the early 19th century, because of years of war and its technical difficulties.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2001)