The Opera

Still on Beijing - actual date January 24, 2009

Our wonderful "travel guide" Megan had mentioned that we could go see a traditional Chinese opera one night if the three of us so desired. Of course, everyone all ready knows what my vote was. We ended up going on our first night in town.

When they say "traditional", it's really just a tourist attraction. The opera is a permanent fixture in a hotel theater and they have a performance almost everyday of the week. Another selling point is that they put the makeup stations in the lobby so you can watch the performers put on their makeup. Part of me felt bad for them, but I was still right up in their faces with my big camera snapping away. They seemed pretty used to it.

As we sat in general admission seats along with a bunch of other tourists we were handed a drink menu. Being the economical women that we are, we decided to order a bottle of wine, which inadvertently up graded us to one of the empty tables in front of us and came with a free bag of popcorn. Bonus.

I was surprised by the performance. I'm not really sure what I expected...I guess more singing. Silly me. The show was in three acts, each a completely different story and type of performance.

Act 1 - The crossroads: Two guys acting as a comedy duo. Most of the act was in complete silence as the tried to find/fight each other in total darkness. It made for some very entertaining posing on their part, and impressive gymnastics. They could jump and land without making a sound, just like ninjas!

Act 2 - Ridding on Auspicious Clouds: One woman "singing" (if you can call it that) and ribbon dancing. By far my least favorite...but made for decent pictures.

Act 3 - The Great Immortal Herb Robbery: One woman fighting (by the end) four guys. Some singing, some talking and lots of acrobatics. By the end they all had long red batons symbolizing weapons and had a kind of juggling act going on. The woman stood in the middle and would kick the batons back to the man that threw it at her perfectly. I felt like I was watching Blue Man Group or something.

This was such a tourist attraction that pictures of the performance were highly encouraged. I was clicking away while Maranda caught a bit of each Act in video mode. Sadly, none of the truly great acrobatic moments are on video, but this is still a pretty good representation of what we saw. Enjoy!