Jackie Chan, who transformed himself from a Chinese film star into a Hollywood action comedy legend, trained at a Peking Opera school.

BBC: Chinese Hamlet in 'Jackie Chan style'

Peking Opera, also known as Jingju, is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics.

BBC: Chinese Hamlet in 'Jackie Chan style'

Peking opera is transmitted largely through master-student training with trainees learning basic skills through oral instruction, observation and imitation.

UNESCO: Intangible Cultural Heritage

Fu Xiru, who plays Zi Dan, the Hamlet part, at Edinburgh's Festival Theatre, said the training for Peking Opera started at a very young age.

BBC: Chinese Hamlet in 'Jackie Chan style'

Then I started wearing outfits based on the Peking Opera to perform.

NEWYORKER: The Olympian

Peking opera is a performance art incorporating singing, reciting, acting, martial arts.

UNESCO: Intangible Cultural Heritage

That's how Edinburgh International Festival director Jonathan Mills summed up The Revenge of Prince Zi Dan, a version of the Shakespeare play performed by the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe.

BBC: Chinese Hamlet in 'Jackie Chan style'

Peking opera is sung and recited using primarily Beijing dialect, and its librettos are composed according to a strict set of rules that prize form and rhyme.

UNESCO: Intangible Cultural Heritage