A child wears a Dixi Opera mask in front of his home in Jiuxi village, Anshun city, Guizhou province. [Photo/IC]

Gu Jiashun, from Jiuxi village, was born in a Dixi Opera family. His grandfather, the late Gu Zhiyan, was the first national-level inheritor of Dixi Opera. Gu Jiashun grew up with his grandfather and began learning the opera at age 9.

Gu Jiashun has loved Dixi Opera since childhood and always hoped that Dixi Opera could be taught in schools. Finally, he opened a Dixi class for juniors in 2013 with his friends, to fulfill one of his grandfather's last wishes. At the start, he faced strong pressure as some parents thought learning opera would affect their children's study at school.

But gradually villagers recognized the value of the classes. Now Gu Jiashun holds Dixi Opera classes in several local schools.

"Dixi Opera plays a major part in the local culture, and I want people to be aware of this and be proud of our traditional cultural heritage," Gu said.