Liuzi Opera, also known as “Beidiaozi” or “Kangbozi”, is popular in Shandong and Henan province, and northern Jiangsu, southern Hebei and northern Anhui.

It was developed from Central Plain folk tunes and since “Liuzi” was taken as its representative tune, the opera became known as Liuzi Opera. It peaked in popularity during the mid-Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Liuzi Opera is a combination of folk melody and liuzi tunes. It is usually accompanied by a sanxian (a three stringed instrument), a flute and a sheng (a woodwind instrument). The opera has absorbed elements of other folk operas, such as gaoqiang, qingyangqiang and luantan.

The opera made the list of national intangible heritages on May 20, 2006.