Taiwanese Folk Opera

I-lan Cultural Bureau,Taiwan, published a series of books with five CDs. It categorizes the Taiwanese folk opera into five elements,including,drama,crying tunes,new tunes,folk tunes and miscellaneous tunes. The CDs demonstrate the ways of singing each tune and serve as a useful approach to traditional Taiwanese opera which was one of the most important recreational pleasure for most Taiwanese elders during the past fifty years. The other element equally important for Taiwanese entertainment is (glove) puppet show. When I was a school boy, my grandma often took me to the theatre to see the opera,and so most of the tunes in the album are familiar to me.