There is a widespread saying in Northeast China that “I would rather give up a meal than errenzhuan (a type of song-and-dance duet popular in Northeast China).” Liaoning Province boasts many errenzhuan theaters, scattered in almost every city of it, and Shenyang City alone has nearly ten. Thus, how can you miss errenzhuan during a tour of Liaoning?

Errenzhuan is a performing art of singing and dancing that is unique to Northeast China. It originated in Liaoning about two or three hundred years ago, and is now extensively popular in China’s northeastern provinces (Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning) and eastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. As a grassroots culture in Northern China’s rural areas, errenzhuan has survived in Northeast China for more than two hundred years, with tenacious vitality. Moreover, with its strong regional characteristics, rustic essence, and amusing style, errenzhuan has been widely recognized, from countryside to cities, and from Northeast China to all over the country. It continues to innovate and is gaining more and more popularity.