Early "liuqiang" performances were held during festivals and slack farming seasons, with three or five performers and little regard of costumes, role types, face painting, and music. Sometimes, an actor needed to play several roles in one play. In the ensuing decades, performances became more complicated and professional. Around 1900, five professional troupes were established in Liujiazhuang, Qiji (, in Yifengdian), Yifeng (, also in Yifengdian), and Nanquan (, in Lancun) which performed not just locally, but also in more urban places like Pingdu, Ye County (now Laizhou), and Laiyang. After the 1911 Revolution, performers like Jiang Wenxing (), Jiang Wenlong (), Dong Qiansan (), Fan Youshan (), Lan Dexian (), Liu Zuolian (), and Yang Lida () went to Qingdao and performed in theaters in Dongzhen (, in today's Shibei District), Shinan, Sifang, and Cangkou. Many of them traveled regularly between rural and urban areas.