Huai Opera artist Chen Cheng has built a growing fanbase on short video platforms, with over 110,000 subscribers on Douyin. Her cover of The Divine Damsel of Devastation, a popular song from an action role-playing game, also became a sensation on the video sharing website Bilibili.

The trained performer of Huai Opera, a folk opera originating from Jiangsu Province, has won recognition of Plum Blossom Award and Shanghai Magnolia Award. Today, the artist is making full use of livestreaming to reach out to the community including members of Generation Z.

Chen said all her planned on-site shows from February 16 till now has been suspended due to COVID-19. As a result, she usually rehearses at home and then livestreams her performance on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Chen started the virtual performance in 2017. She introduced the ABCs of Huai Opera, such as make-up, costumes and musical instruments, and gradually attracted more and more followers.

Chen also invited her husband Chen Mingkuang and then a sound technician to help improve the livestreaming. She often puts a lot of thoughts into each program to make it fun and engaging. In a recent episode, she promoted the way of singing in the theatrical art by telling a story. She is always ready to sing some tunes to meet the expectation of elderly fans, or teach a few lines when there’s a large online audience.

Her cover of The Divine Damsel of Devastation received more than one million views during the Spring Festival holiday, which increased to over 2 million in the first lunar month. More than 147,800 people watched online as she performed the song.

Cheng believes livestreaming provides a good way to learn about traditional opera. She explains vividly "orchid fingers", finger movements to express different emotions and characters, the make-up tips, the use of headgear, and singing skills of the folk opera.