Shaoxing opera (Yueju), as the second largest type of Chinese opera just next to Beijing Opera in China, produces a considerable number of specialized performances troupes and enjoys the patronage of an impressive number of audiences.

Shaoxing opera, originating from the local dialect, drama, and folk music in Shengxian County of Zhejiang Province, has taken shape by extensively absorbing the cream of multiple arts such as Beijing Opera, Kun Opera (Kunqu), modern drama, etc. and undergoing repeated tempering over the past century. In Shaoxing opera, most of the male roles are performed by actresses. Its musical style is characterized mainly via Banqiang Style (music of voice accompanied by small drum and wood clappers) mixed with various schools of music. Its characters are performed without facial masks which allows the actor to incorporate their innermost experience into the performance and give expressions by means of stylistically-oriented techniques.

In the Guangxu Reign of the Qing Dynasty (around the year 1852), Shaoxing opera became first prevalent in Shaoxing and Shengxian counties of Zhejiang in its style of mixing singing and acting.
In the 1930s, after entering Shanghai, the Shaoxing opera gradually adapted itself to the integral atmosphere of the great and properous metropolis, with its comprehensive art ever-increasingly becoming more and more mature in terms of playwriting, directing, performance, music and stagecraft. In the 1950s through 1960s, with a batch of repertoires coming into being (such as Dream of Red Chamber, The Butterfly Lovers, and Mrs. Xianglin), the Shaoxing opera further consolidated its status in China's traditional opera art. Therefore, this period was recognized as the first height in the developing history of its art.

Numerous members of the new generation of artists of Shaoxing opera grew up after the 1980s. On the basis of the tradition, the repertories such as Birthday Celebration by Five Daughter (performed by the Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Shaoxing Opera Troupe), Lady General Mu Guaiying and Legend of White Snake (performed by the Xiaobaihua Shaoxing Opera Troupe in Shaoxing) were imbued with multiple elements on stage held in esteem in modern performing art. Shaoxing opera formed its own style coming out first in the stage-dream style of traditional operas, which are regarded by expert and scholars as the second wave in the developing history of Shaoxing opera.