 During the Zhou dynasty (11th century-256 BC), this art form was very popular in the Yangtze River, Yellow River and Nenjiang River valleys .However, the opera's popularity waned in those river valley areas.Nowadays, it still remains popular among rural areas in southwest China, such as Guizhou, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.