The return of the storytellers

AS SHE TAKES the stage in the musty dining room theater of the Lao She teahouse near Tiananmen Square, Ma Zumei receives only a smattering of applause. After performances by Chinese opera singers clad in lush costumes and dancers with whirling swords, the sight of this portly middle-aged woman clad in an elegant evening gown has a somewhat anticlimactic effect. (Full article: 1046 words)

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