China Kunqu Museum

The China Kunqu Museum sits behind a traditional wooden gate topped with intricate, dark-tiled eaves. It occupies the former All-Girls’ School of the Quanyin Temple, a structure that dates back to the late nineteenth century. Inside, the focus rests on the delicate, highly stylized opera form that originated in this region during the Ming Dynasty. The architect and playwright Li Yu once lived nearby, and the museum preserves the specific, quiet elegance of the gardens where his dramas first played.