But, since 2004, many of them have carried out reforms in line with government policies that encouraged cultural units to tap market resources and cut their dependence on State funds.

"It's really different from three years ago when we used to get fiscal support and subsidies from the government," said Wu Jiang, president of the Peking Opera Company, which also owns an experimental theater, Changheyuan, that performs a modern-style Peking Opera as well as classic arias at comparatively lower rates for cost-conscious audiences.

Other State-owned performance troupes, including the China Children's Art Troupe, China Puppet Art Troupe, China Arts and Entertainment Group, Jilin Opera and Dance Performance Co, Shanghai City Entertainment Co Ltd and Jiangsu Opera and Dance Group, have also followed in Peking Opera's wake.

Take Shanghai's Circus Theater, a large hemispherical building with a golden dome, for example. The theater hosts the multimedia odyssey ERA every evening.

The play has been staged over 1,450 times with box office receipts exceeding 150 million yuan. Nearly 1.4 million people, 60 percent of them foreigners, have seen the performance to date.

"Not only will the audience be amazed by the ERA acrobats' control and precision, they will also be enchanted by the world that is created through the use of multimedia, technology, lighting and sound effects, elaborate costumes, original live music and a lot more," said Wang Hongbo, media director of China Arts and Entertainment Group, the country's largest art conglomerate.

ERA, jointly produced by the China Arts and Entertainment Group, Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group and Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe, has seen investments worth 10 million yuan by each of the partners.

Market-oriented

"This kind of project-oriented cooperation would have been unimaginable before the market-oriented reform process," said Hu Huiling, a Shanghai Jiaotong University professor who specializes in China's cultural industry.

"Now (after reform) we have got the right to design products independently; but since we cannot get fiscal support anymore, we are forced to make every effort to cater to the audience and become competitive in terms of products, services and business operations," Zhang Yu, the general manager of China Arts and Entertainment Group, said during a recent interview to CCTV.

Wang Hongbo said raising funds from the market meant that the company was free to devise a long-term development strategy instead of coping with short-term issues like balancing its meager budget.

To all intents and purposes, the move out of the government's shadow seems to be paying off.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, from 2006 to 2007, the peak period when State-owned troupes around China started to embrace market-oriented reforms, the number of performances went up 9.97 percent, from 310,000 times to 340,900 times. The total revenue of these State-owned troupes also surged 18.72 percent, from 5.38 billion yuan to 6.38 billion yuan.

Data from China's Ministry of Culture showed that in 2004 there were 90 Peking Opera troupes, and their combined income was less than 45 million yuan. Though they were then massively subsidized by the state, audience numbers had started dwindling.

But the trend has reversed post reform and many troupes have started to make money.

The China National Peking Opera Company gets 2 million yuan from the operators of the Mei Lanfang Grand Theater for 100 performances each year from 2008 to 2012.

Retaining good artistes requires market-oriented pay system

"I have never seen the Peking Opera in so magnificent a building," said Wang Jianmin, a 58-year-old Beijinger and loyal Peking opera fan, whose son gave him tickets for a performance during this year's Spring Festival. "But the ticket rates are expensive; I prefer to watch it at Changheyuan where each ticket costs only 50 yuan."

The more pressing concern, however, is how to retain good artistes, and that is an issue the troupes should ponder seriously, professor Hu said.

"In the past, the salary was fixed under a system formulated by the government; the market mechanism has made the payment system disparate, resulting in competition within the industry," Hu said.

"But management of actors, who are usually emotional people, is not easy. In addition to money, more chances to perform, encouragement and open communication should be fostered," Hu said.

Wang Ying, the general manager of China Children's Arts Troupe, said her company has adopted a flexible salary system in line with performance metrics and a top artiste at her company can earn more than 10,000 yuan per month, compared to a monthly income of 2,000 to 3,000 yuan under the State-subsidy regime.

The annual salary and insurance expenses for its 100-plus employees surged from 2 million yuan in 2003, a year prior to the market reform, to more than 7.5 million yuan last year.