Xu Yulan often played male roles in all-female Yue opera productions, and the "Xu style" of playing these
xiaosheng (young male) roles is named for her. She co-starred with
Wang Wenjuan for many years beginning in 1948, and commissioned works from other composers. In 1949 she was one of the performers required to take classes and pursue research on folk opera for the Shanghai government. In 1952 she won first prize in the first Chinese folk opera festival organized under the new Ministry of Culture. In 1953 she performed opera for Chinese and Korean military audiences, for which she was awarded a medal by the Korean Workers' Party. For much of her life she was an instructor, consultant, and advisor to the Shanghai Yue Opera Academy, and performed with the Academy's opera company on overseas tours to East Germany, the Soviet Union, Vietnam, and North Korea. She also produced a television series of her career highlights. With the loosening of restrictions on artists in China, she formed the Red Mansions Opera Company, and was a popular guest at concerts in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand. Late in life she was on the executive committee of the Chinese Dramatists' Association. ==Personal life==