According to Li, there are 13 State-owned Yuju Opera theaters in the country and over 2,000 private Yuju Opera theaters. Of all the 348 traditional Chinese operas, Yuju Opera currently has the largest number of people engaged in the business, from performers and musicians to costume makers and scriptwriters.

However, the situation was quite different when Li first started his career.

Born into a poor family in a small village of Ruzhou city in Henan province, Li, whose father died when he was a little boy, became a Yuju Opera actor because it allowed him to get three meals a day at his school.

He had failed many times before, but at the age of 17, he was finally enrolled in the Luoyang Chinese Traditional Opera School to study Yuju Opera. Unlike youngsters who have softer bones, Li had to work hard to learn the martial arts movements. Within five years of starting his formal studies he had the opportunity to perform onstage, playing some minor characters.

In 1984, he graduated and worked with a local Yuju Opera theater in Luoyang, Henan province. He was paid about 40 yuan a month and, thanks to the large fan base of Yuju Opera, he had many performances, which provided a steady income.

"It was apparent that Yuju Opera, like many other traditional Chinese operas, was in decline during the 1990s. For example, we toured every year around Henan and the number of audience members in one village decreased drastically. The following year, we returned and the senior people couldn't go to the theater due to poor health," Li recalls.

In the 1990s, a shrinking market and a lack of innovation drove thousands of traditional Chinese opera troupes to the edge of closing.

Li found it challenging, but felt it was important to keep the old art form alive, because "that's the only thing I can do and I truly love", he says.

Li, who started to work with Henan No 1 Yuju Opera Theater in 1997 as its director, went on a mission to revive the old art form.