In May 2005, the Secretary of Zhejiang CPC Committee attended a performance by a struggling local opera troupe. What he witnessed was an ancient form of Kunqu Opera, native to Yongjia County. But he also learned that this unique opera genre was on the verge of extinction. The Party Secretary was Xi Jinping, and within weeks a series of instructions he issued had set Yongjia Kunqu Opera firmly on the road to revival.