Although I can't fit another item in my bulging backpack, I had to explore the "dirt" market today, which is only open on weekends. A girl's got to shop sometime! It's becoming the norm to be overwhelmed by the shear size of everything in China and the market did not disappoint. There were stalls of treasures as far as the eye can see. If you need some antiques, jewelry, silk, artisan chopstick, kites, massive vases...this is the place to come. Bargaining was fierce and the prices were ridiculously low. I found a great old warn copy of Mao's little red book and couldn't resist! As I drifted from stall to stall in the heat, I couldn't help thinking it would be so much fun to decorate an apt here! You could design an eclectic two bedroom house for about $200!
I joined Ruth (from AL, but works in an international ed program in Washington, DC) and Pien (Dutch English School teach who is traveling around Asia for 6 months) for an evening of Chinese Opera. We went to the Liyuan Theatre to see the Beijing Opera. The theatre was fabulous and even had tables for tea in the front. We wish we had known that!
Chinese Opera is very important to the culture here and has been since the late 1700's. It was very popular with the Imperial families and continues to be a great evening out for the locals. We saw two short operas. The first, Death of Yu Ji, seemed like a short act in a bigger production. It was basically one scene where the Emperor announces to his concubine that he has been defeated in battle. She tries to cheer him up with a song and dance, but then decides to kill herself so that he can go back into battle unencumbered by her. The costumes were truly amazing and worth the whole trip. However, the singing sounded like killing cats to me. I would have to study a long time to appreciate that!
The second opera, Stealing Silver in Storage, was my favorite. It was like a mini play of the Robinhood story, but Robinhood is a woman and is assisted by a demon and some acrobats. There was far less singing and much more acrobatics, even some fire breathing in this one. And, once again the costumes were a treat!
When we got back to the hostel, we headed down the Hutong to a very cool restaurant called the Drum and Gong. It was recommened to us by an Expat we met in an Aussie bar on Saturday night. It was a fabulous meal. I think I've learned the trick to ordering Chinese now and I've been very pleased with my last few choices. My chopstick use is also drastically improving. Before you know it I'll be learning to cook the stuff--someone stop me.
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