I got a kick out of an article in the Wall Street Journal today:  <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB109961353196765556,00.html" title="The Wall Street Journal Online">Oakland Discovers A Burgeoning Talent In Chinese Opera</a>:

<quote>Just outside City Hall, the Chinese-immigrant crowd rose to its feet. "He's so clear," effused Shu Hui Lui, an English teacher. Henrique Ham, a contractor who immigrated from China 34 years ago, started crying. "It's very special," he said.

The object of their praise is a 9-year-old African-American fourth-grader.
</quote>

I wonder if he sings in Cantonese, in which case it would be 越剧, and not 京剧.  Props to the article for identifying it as Chinese opera.  This would be a good point to also publicly question Quentin Tarantino's decision to make a kung-fu movie in Mandarin; <em>Mandarin</em>???  Maybe that sounds authentic to clueless Hollywood execs.  I expected more from Tarantino... though maybe not from the current Tarantino.