iQIYI Uses Tech to Showcase Peking Opera in Winter Begonia

Winter Begonia, a drama series set in the world of Peking Opera between the 1920s and 1940s, has launched with interactive elements on the iQIYI streaming service in China.

The iQIYI original offers an immersive experience with a customized encyclopedic feature that allows viewers to click on pop-up banners or bullet subtitles to learn about Peking Opera. Further, iQIYI’s AI Radar Qiguan technology has been applied in the streaming of Winter Begonia, enabling users to use the one-click AI Radar Qiguan function to identify the background music or learn about the actors’ lines through the interlinked NetEase Cloud Music mini app and Baidu Encyclopedia mini app.

Winter Begonia features dozens of classic repertoires from the Peking Opera and Kun Opera such as the “Longevity Hall” and “Hundred Flowers Pavilion,” as well as some original numbers created for the series. The Peking Opera performance artist Bi Guyun serves as the show’s advisor and his disciples Yin Jun and Mou Yuandi help to present the performance and styling of Peking Opera in an authentic and professional way.

iQIYI has also rolled out a talk show with a Chinese Peking Opera theme titled Wang Peiyu Peking Opera Show, which is hosted by the Peking Opera artist Wang Peiyu. The talk show will elaborate on the operatic repertoire, showcase the performers’ personalities and the stories in Winter Begonia.