Hong Kong is a part of China that has produced a number of popular traditions, including a large part of what is known as Cantopop. Cantopop is a kind of pop music, sung in Cantonese. There is also a long tradition of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is renowned in its field.

Cantonese opera

Main article: Cantonese opera

There is a debate about the origins of Cantonese opera, but it is universally accepted that Cantonese opera was imported from the northern part of China and slowly migrated to the southern province of Guangdong in late 13th century, during the late Southern Song Dynasty. In the 12th century, there was a theatrical form called Narm hei (南戲), or the Nanxi (Southern opera), which was performed in public theaters of Hangzhou, then capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. With the invasion of the Mongol army, Emperor Gong (Gong Di (恭帝 Gōngdì)), Zhao Xian (趙顯 Zhào Xiǎn) fled with hundreds of thousands of Song people into the province of Guangdong in 1276. Among these people were some Narm hei artists from the north. Thus narm hei was brought into Guangdong by these artists and developed into the earliest kind of Cantonese opera.

Many well-known operas performed today, such as The Purple Hairpin and Rejuvenation of the Red Plum Flower originated in the Yuan Dynasty, with the lyrics and scripts in Cantonese. Until the 20th century all the female roles were performed by males.

Cantopop

Main article: Cantopop

Prior to the development of popular music in the 1960s, Hong Kong's musical output was dominated by Cantonese opera and some renditions of Western music by popular comedians. Prominent singers included Tang Kee-chan (鄧寄塵), Cheng Kuan-min (鄭君綿), and Tam Ping-man (譚炳文). Imported music from Taiwan, the United States and United Kingdom was also popular. The youth began to gravitate towards Cantonese pop, which had previously been viewed as inferior. Singers like Cheng Kum-cheung and Chan Chai-chung (陳齊頌) were renowned throughout the decade.

Around 1971, Sindokla (仙度拉), a minor singer who had never sung Cantopop before, was invited to sing the first Cantonese TV theme song, "The Yuanfen of a Wedding that Cries and Laughs " or "Tai Siu Jan Jyuan" (啼笑姻緣). This song was the creation of the legendary songwriter Gu Gaa-fai (顧嘉輝) and the songwriter Yip Siu-dak (葉紹德).

From 1970s to 1990s, many popular Cantonese songs were TV theme songs. Usually the theme songs are written in classical Chinese for programmes with ancient background, and in colloquial Cantonese language for programmes based on modern life. One of the most well-known theme song stars was Roman Tam, he was respected for his perfect singing skills. TV theme songs are still important part of Hong Kong music.