When the loyal and just Guan gong dies in service to his king Liu Bei, the throng of spectators in fornt of the stage heaves a sigh of sadness. But when you look closely, what's being performed onstage is not the usual Taiwanese outdoor opera that we're used to seeing; instead, it's an "old town gathering," Beijing style.
北港朝天宮的戲台上，鑼鼓鏘咚，絲竹繚繞；當忠義的關老爺飲恨殉帝時，台下滿滿的觀眾唏噓不已。但是定睛一看，台上演的可不是記憶中廟口常搬演的「野台」的歌仔戲，而是京劇《古城會》。