Known as xiangsheng in Chinese, cross-talk is one of China's most popular performing arts and has a history dating back more than a hundred years. Performances generally involve a pair of comedians entertaining audiences with a combination of word play, puns and imitation, drawing heavily upon Chinese language and history.

Crosstalk master Ding Guangquan is famous for his efforts in teaching traditional cross-talk to foreign students.

Ding's work with foreign students first caught the public's eye in 1989, when Ding's first foreign apprentice Mark Rowswell, known among Chinese audiences as Da Shan, delivered a crosstalk performance on CCTV and received widespread praise across China. Da Shan has since become a household name in China.

Ding Guangquan has been teaching foreigners cross-talk for more than 20 years. He has more than 160 students from around 80 countries.

In 2008 Ding Guangquan became a guest professor at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology. From that point onwards Ding has offered free weekly sessions, teaching Chinese to foreign students through cross-talk performances.
 
Nick from Canada has been learning crosstalk with Ding Guangquan for ab0ut three years. Here is his cross talk performance with kuaibanr.

Ding recalls that his own teacher, Hou Baolin, a famous Chinese master of crosstalk, was strict when it came to learning the art but was always kind towards his students. Ding Guangquan is now trying to realize Hou Baolin's wish to promote cross-talk internationally.
 
In reference to Hou Baolin's influence on Ding while teaching foreign students, Ding said his teacher once reminded him to teach true knowledge rather than fashionable expressi0ns, which are not a genuine expressi0n of cross-talk. Cross-talk is in fact a combination of various forms of Chinese culture.

Ding believes that practice makes perfect. In his class he often asks his students to perform in front of their peers and provides feedback on the spot.

Regarding his requirements when recruiting foreign students, Ding explains that his students must have a good personality. Secondly, he or she must be fond of Chinese culture, and finally, the learner's Chinese must be at an intermediate level. But Ding added that if the learner is really eager to learn cross-talk, his or her Chinese level can be lower; Ding will help them with their Chinese level at a later stage.