President Xi Jinping chats with children who have performed Cantonese opera to him during his visit to the West Kowloon Cultural District, in Hong Kong, South China, on June 29, 2017. (Photo: China Daily)

In a 2017 tour of Hong Kong, President Xi Jinping watched some selections of Cantonese opera performed by children in the West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong's flagship art area.

Xi praised their performance.
"I'm glad to see that you like Cantonese Opera so much," he said. "This shows that Cantonese Opera has successors in Hong Kong and it also shows that excellent traditional Chinese culture has tenacious vitality."
"I hope everyone will cherish the opportunity, study and practice [of Cantonese Opera] as much as possible and communicate more with mainland counterparts. The vast number of Cantonese Opera enthusiasts gave wonderful performances and made their own contributions to passing on excellent traditional Chinese culture," said Xi.
As the root and soul of the Chinese nation, traditional Chinese culture is also a cultural identity which strengthens the spiritual bond between Hongkongers and the people of the motherland.
Cantonese Opera originates in the culture of Lingnan, an ancient region combining modern-day Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao started exchanging and cooperating more after the 1997 return of Hong Kong to the motherland.
In 2009, Cantonese Opera was listed on the UNESCO Representative List of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage.