The Department of Peking Opera is one of the academic departments at the CAD that features the most traditional Chinese characteristics. It adheres to the Academy's educational philosophy of 'building a solid foundation and emphasizing practice', follows the laws and characteristics of Peking Opera creation, while passing on the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation. On this basis, the Department explores to build a four-in-one training model that balances 'teaching, scientific research, innovation, and practice'. The Department aims to equip students with systematic knowledge structure, comprehensive capabilities of performance, broad academic visions, abilities to showcase Chinese characteristics, practicalness, and creative spirit.

The discipline development in the Department has further contributed to CAD's efforts to develop the first-class disciplines. It aspires to connect the foundation with the leading edge of the subject, integrate tradition into modernity, learn from both the East and the West, and seek for the internationalized expression of ontological language of art.

The Department offers two 4-year courses, Acting for Peking Opera and Musical Accompaniment for Peking Opera. A 3-year MA programme in Theory and Practice of Acting for Peking Opera is provided, along with a 3-year doctoral programme in Studies of Acting for Theatre, Film and TV Arts (Studies of Acting for Peking Opera).

The Department stresses students' practice on campus and in the community. Their on-campus practice includes staging complete traditional Peking Opera repertoires or excerpts of traditional classics, holding Peking Opera concerts, as well as creating original Peking Opera plays and new Peking Opera excerpts adapted from classic ones. Students from the Department have participated in many important shows and art exchange activities at home and abroad, in which fruitful results have been achieved. We have been in strategic cooperation with various professional art troupes to build a high-level art platform for students to trial their skills.

Our faculty members are experienced in teaching and stage performance. 95% of them have won Mei Lanfang Gold Prize and National Contest for Young Actors of Peking Opera. The CAD has established Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee for Peking Opera comprising famous masters and artists in the industry, such as SHANG Changrong, KOU Chunhua, YE Shaolan, LIU Changyu, SUN Yumin, ZHU Shihui, CHEN Shaoyun, YU Kuizhi, LI Shengsu, WANG Rongrong, MENG Guanglu, and XI Zhonglu, who are also hired as visiting professors at the CAD.