I set out on a journey in Wenzhou, a city in Zhejiang province, last April after a friend told me stories about the folk opera troupes there.

It took me sometime before I found Tiange Peking Opera Troupe. I spent several days with them, capturing their lives in video.

The troupe had some 40 people who came from across the country. The youngest actor was 12, and the oldest about 60.

They led a wandering life, performing wherever they could earn money. They all took quilts along with them when they traveled, because they often had to sleep outdoors. On the first night I too was told to pick up a quilt but it was too short to cover me and there was no pillow. The next day I used two bricks as a pillow.