Although the ban was lifted in 1912, the tradition of males playing female roles continues.

This requires actors to put on layers of makeup and costumes, and heavy headdresses, which Shavrova says are almost like "helmets".

She photographed actors getting dressed, in sets of eight, to show the gradual transformation.

For example, the first picture of a series features a man without any makeup. The next few show the man applying layers of heavy makeup and putting on a head cloth to cover his hair, followed by an elaborate headdress with beautiful decorations. In the last few photographs, the character's femininity emerges.

The final shot shows what appears to be a woman with long hair, delicate facial features and a soft gaze.

The exhibition also displays a large-scale projection of a 17-minute film demonstrating Chinese opera and two plasma screens showing five-minute time-lapse videos.

The exhibition was originally commissioned by and shown at the Espacio Cultural El Tanque in 2011 - an old oil depot on the Spanish island Tenerife. It was shown in 2017 at the Ballina Arts Center in Ireland and this year at the Patrick Heide Contemporary Art gallery in London.

The first Peking Opera actor Shavrova met was Liu Zheng. He introduced Shavrova to others.

"I became friends with these people," Shavrova says.

"We went out to dinner together and socialized."

【【我的中国梦】京剧的魅力】相关文章：

★ 中国5月出口增速反弹

★ 大国角逐下的中亚

★ 英国向中国推销医保模式

★ 《绝望主妇》各集结束语精选

★ 中国开发商的债务包袱将转嫁给谁？

★ 双语：中国人均寿命增速有点慢

★ 奥运双语八卦：中国羽坛的夫妻档

★ 菲律宾支持日本重整军备

★ 美议员：烧掉中国产的美国奥运代表团队服

★ 中国制造业初现起色