Mei in Paris in 2005. CHINA NEWS SERVICE

Hu Wenge, 48, the only nan dan apprentice of Mei Baojiu, was with his master on Monday. "He told me that his grandfather had passed on his knowledge and the acting techniques of Peking Opera to Mei Lanfang, who then taught him. He hoped I could ... pass on this legacy," Hu told Beijing News. "It's a great responsibility for me."

Sun Ping, 55, a veteran Peking Opera performer, said, "Mei Baojiu's death is not just a big loss to Peking Opera but also to Chinese culture."

Sun wrote a 10-volume series, The English Translation Series of 100 Peking Opera Classics, published by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

"Mei Baojiu was very supportive of my projects. Like his father, he made great efforts to promote and pass on his knowledge of Peking Opera to the younger generation," Sun said.

In 2009, Mei Baojiu, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, put forward a proposal to introduce Peking Opera into elementary schools.

In March 2012, he submitted a proposal to introduce an animated form of Peking Opera to get more teenagers interested in the art.

During this year's CPPCC session, he said young students should learn traditional culture, such as Peking Opera and calligraphy.