The China Drama Academy (Chinese: 中國戲劇學院) was a Peking opera school in Kowloon, Hong Kong, known for being the childhood home of such famous actors as Jackie Chan (Yuen Lo), Sammo Hung (Yuen Lung), Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu and Corey Yuen (Yuen Kwai). Famed filmmaker Yuen Woo-ping also attended the school for one year as a day student.[1]
It was run from a small theatre in the Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park by Master Yu Jim Yuen, a northern (北拳) kung fu practitioner and a very stern teacher.[2] Children were usually enrolled for a period of 10 years, whilst Yu taught them the acrobatic and acting skills that would later introduce many of them into the world of Chinese theatre and movies.
Whilst attending the Peking opera school under the tutelage of Yu Jim Yuen, the students all adopted their sifu's given name "Yuen" as their family name.