A large group of us at the hostel in Xi’an decided to do the Chinese opera one night. We saw amazingly beautiful costumes, acrobatics, puppets, dancing, singing, face-changing (masks) and, of course, fire breathing. It was a wide variety and I’m not sure just how much of it is for the tourists. Does an actual opera have a plot and story? If so, how do they incorporate all the stuff we saw?

That’s a phenomenal shot!
Wowza! Great shot!
I would expect there is a plot. The firebreathing and such could be symbolism or the like. Just a great shot, especially with getting the light right.