Kun Opera, also called 'Kunshan Qiang' (the style of Kunshan) or 'Kunqu', originated in the Kunshan region of Jiangsu Province. It is a form of Chinese opera, boasts a history of more than 600 years, which is the richest and most ancient of Chinese opera forms, with a continuous stage tradition unrivalled by any musical theater in the world.

The history of Kun Opera – Kun opera has a long history which is more than 600 years and is known as the "teacher" or "mother" of a hundred operas, because of its influence on other Chinese theatre forms, including Beijing opera. Its emergence ushered in the second Golden Era of Chinese drama, but by the early twentieth century it had nearly disappeared, exacerbated by deliberate attempts to suppress it during the Cultural Revolution.
The features of Kun Opera – it has a complete system of acting as well as its own distinctive tunes. With a wide range of repertoire, its tunes are very delicate and elegant and its acting is vivid and touching. The orchestra consists of Dizi (a horizontal bamboo flute which plays the leading part in the orchestra), Xiao (a vertical bamboo flute), Sheng (mouth organ), Pipa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted finger board) etc, Many Chinese local operas are greatly influenced by its tunes and acting.

Famous plays of Kun Opera - if you want to know more about Kun Opera, you can look some famous plays of Kun Opera. Such as Escorting Jingniang Home(Qianli Song Jingniang), Fifteen Strings of Coins(Shiwu Guan), Love at First Sight(Qiang Tou Ma Shang), South Tang Dynasty Tragedy(< Tang>), Yan Xijiao and so on.

Kun Opera, today – Kun Opera is performed professionally in seven Mainland Chinese cities: Beijing (Northern Kunqu Theatre), Shanghai (Shanghai Kunqu Theatre), Suzhou (Suzhou Kunqu Theatre), Nanjing (Jiangsu Province Kunqu Theatre), Chenzhou (Hunan Kunqu Theatre), Yongjia County/Wenzhou (Yongjia Kunqu Theatre) and Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province Kunqu Theatre), as well as in Taipei. Non-professional opera societies are active in many other cities in China and abroad, and opera companies occasionally tour.

In 2001, Kun opera was listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO .