Dawn has still not broken the night sky at 6:30 am in late November in Beijing, but Hou Xiuying, a 56-year-old retired accountant with the Beijing Rural Construction Group, had already stepped on her first bus.

Arriving an hour and a half later at Xiaojing Station, on Wanfeng Lu in Fengtai District, she enters an inconspicuous house branded with a small white plate at the door: Long Yun Peking Opera Fans' Club.

Hou is one of more than 30 other members of the club organized and funded by Xiaojing Village. Three times a week, on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday mornings, everybody take turns to sing an excerpt of Peking Opera on a makeshift platform at one side of a 40-sqm room, to the accompaniment of a band. The other members rest on stools and gaze admirably.

It is not just an acoustic performance. A small room serves as a space to adorn costumes and makeup before alighting the stage.

The club celebrated its 4th anniversary on November 15. It was established by Lu Shizhong, a 73-year-old villager, who loves singing Peking Opera. For these people, it is a celebration of heritage and culture to experience everyday.

Most of the club's members are villagers at the Xiaojing Village aged between 50 to 70 years old, with a few in their 40s. Singing Peking Opera has become an important part of life for them.
"I get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction from singing Peking Opera," said Hou, "and it is great to make so many new friends here!"
For Yan Ximing, a 52-year-old farmer and retired worker living in the village, singing Peking Opera is an excellent form of physical exercise.
He has spent 6,000 yuan so far (US$726) on the costumes and props for his roles.
"A lot of effort is required," he explained, "and the singing increases the capacity of the lungs."
But when he is not singing Peking Opera, Yan's other favourite pastime is drinking.
"Singing does not cost too much money, like drinking does," he reasoned. "Singing also doesn't get me into trouble."
These members pride themselves for being a highly regarded club. In a Peking Opera fan's competition, held last year at the Chaoyang Cultural Centre, the club was ranked 3rd among more than 50 club competitors.
The club house looks quite inconspicuous considering the achievements it contains. Across one road is a car-wash station. At the other side, along the brand new 6-lane Wanfeng Lu, is a line of shops selling car accessories.
Two hundred metres away to the south is Fengbei Lu, the western extension of Lize commercial zone. Fengbei Lu is an extension of Fengtai Government's development plan. It will be completely renovated inside two years.
Xiaojing Village takes up the area east at Liuliqiao, on Third Ring Road, to Fengtai Lukou. It spans from Jingshi Lu in the north to Fengbei Lu in the south.
Although the 3,000 villagers still retain their identity as farmers on their official resident permits, nobody grows any produce any longer. A large part of the villagers' income is rents of their houses, for living or as warehouses for big enterprises. The villagers also have enterprises of their own, open markets and shops, mostly selling construction and decorative materials, if not car accessories. Restaurants and hair salons haphazardly mix with the residential area.
In an area of two square kilometres, the village also contains 6,000 migrant people from other parts of China.
Although it looks chaotic, the village earns a lot of revenue: 140 million yuan (US$17 million) per year. And a working villager's average yearly income is 12,000 yuan (US$1,400).
In the past, when the farmers had to rise at 5am to work in the fields and not return until the moon was high, they had no entertainment at all.
TV began to be introduced to Chinese families in the mid-80s, with more modern entertainment not far behind. But for the older people, it has almost been a vacuum.
"We have to help these old people to occupy their spare time," said Yang Yanshan, the village head. "We cannot leave them to sit around all day, just playing mah-jong."
The village spent 100,000 yuan (US$12,000) on refurbishing the club's centre, and 10,000 to 20,000 yuan (US$1,200-2,400) a year on other expenditures for the club.
According to Fengtai District government's plan, the old houses will be demolished soon. By that time, all the villagers will have to move from their bungalows to highrise buildings, where each home will be 120 to 140 sqm big. After the region is "regularized," trees and grassland will take up 74.2 per cent of the total area.
Long Yun Peking Opera Fans' Club will be bigger and better equipped. Lu Shizhong, Yan Ximing and other villagers of Xiaojing will be transformed completely into city dwellers, and what was once a local neighbourhood will be lost. Still, the art will not die, and a cultural legend will thrive.