China: Day 11

by Kathy 2. September 2010 22:31

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Lijiang—“Impression: Lijiang” Show

In the wee hours of the morning, I woke up ill. Stomach “issues.” I will spare the details. Thankfully, no one else was sick. We all had shared our food last night, so I am not sure if our dinner was the cause. The effect, however, was not pleasant.

For me, the morning was a blur, as we packed and prepared to leave Lijiang.

We had a late afternoon flight to the city of Guilin, where we would travel by car to our final destination—a tiny rural community nestled in the “gumdrop mountains” near the city of Yangshuo.

For our last hurrah in Lijiang, we planned to attend a musical production this morning called “Impression: Lijiang,” a show that had been recommended with much enthusiasm by Qing, our wonderful guide in Beijing. Our hotel was providing a free taxi to the airport; for an additional modest charge we were having the taxi driver take us to the show, and a small village for lunch, before dropping us off at the airport.

The performance was in an open-air theater at the base of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, north of Lijiang. I am glad that Ben snapped some photos of the scenery on the way because I was lying down in the back seat for most of the drive. (He took all of the photos today.)

The business district of Lijiang had a statue of Mao Tse Tung (who ruled China from 1949 until his death in 1976).

Outside of the city, the cars shared the road with some cows.

The way to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain was lined with large signs that looked as they were promoting a fancy resort complex.

We had heard a rumor that developers had planned a large resort near Lijiang, but the plans had recently been put on hold (or canceled) because of concerns that the project would change the character of the area and possibly jeopardize the UNESCO World Heritage status of the Old Town. I don't know if the signs were related to that project, but they seemed a bit extravagant for the surrounding landscape.

Looming ahead of us were the shrouded peaks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain:

Entering Dongba Valley:

We waited in line to pay an entrance fee for Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Park:

Once inside the Park, our driver found the outdoor theater and accompanied us to the ticket booth to assist with our ticket purchase.

In the theater, the middle section of seats was already filled, but the side sections were virtually empty. We snagged what I would consider to be some of the best seats in the house, on the front right side. We were soon joined by some lively Chinese women, who sat behind us and shared their snacks with Genevieve and Sebastian.

Here I am (sitting upright! but still feeling very ill) with the kids—we are wearing our stylish red hats that were free with the show.

We blended in with the crowd:

“Impression: Lijiang” is a show that was created by the Chinese director Zhang Yimou. (I was not familiar with any of his movies, although I knew that he directed the opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.) The Lijiang performance showcases the culture and lives of the Naxi and Mosuo, two ethnic minorities in the Lijiang area. According to the show literature, the performers are 500 men and women who were chosen from 16 towns in the Lijiang area, and they represent 10 different Chinese minorities.

When the show started, I was transported out of my sickness and into a magical world.

Everything about the performance was incredible—the beautiful music, the dancing, the choreography, the acting, and the storylines that covered aspects of traditional daily life (e.g., tea harvesting, horsemanship, men drinking together, marriages, etc.).

Here are scenes from the men’s dance, involving saddles:

The show had many horses and talented horsemen:

One of our favorites was the women's dance in which they carried their loaded baskets:

In one dance, men used tables as props for pounding and standing:

Our seats were perfect for viewing special dances that only occurred on the small stage in front of us. This man with the feathered hat was so close, we felt like we were getting a private dance performance:

The men’s drum dance was full of energy:

The songs were in Chinese, with a screen that had some English translations now and then (however, as with many translations that we have seen in China, the English words were sometimes confusing). The screen was directly in front of us, at the back of the small stage:

We probably didn’t understand a lot of the subtleties in the performances, but we were mesmerized nonetheless.

When raving to us about the show, Qing had mentioned that she had cried during the performance. During one song in which a woman/girl was saying farewell to her family and her younger sister before departing with her new husband, I was a bit choked up. I snuck a quick glance at the faces behind me, and found tears streaming down some of the faces. The sorrow of goodbye transcends language barriers.

The woman/girl’s final farewell wave:

The segment involved an arranged marriage. As the horse left the scene, a heartbreaking wail was emitted by this man, who presumably was the villager who had truly loved her.

The English translation scrolling on the screen during the farewell scene told of the Naxi history of ritual love suicide, in which some Naxi couples would commit joint suicide rather than be subjected to arranged marriages.

In the latter portion of the show, a group of women performed directly in front of us, dressed in their colorful traditional clothing.

The women then united with other performers and sang a powerful song. (I didn’t understand the words, but the unified voices and the overall scene were very moving.)

At over 18,000 feet high, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain seemed to have its own weather system that changed throughout the one-hour performance.

After the show, we drove to the tiny village of Baisha, where Ben and the kids ate lunch while I slept in the back seat of the taxi.

The main street in Baisha was very peaceful.

Ben and the children found a small café owned by Mr. Yang, who invited them in and served them delicious plates of mixed vegetables, pork and spinach, fried potatoes, Naxi bread and rice.

Mr. Yang with Genevieve and Sebastian:

While the meal was being prepared, Mr. Yang gave Genevieve and Sebastian a bowl of sunflower seeds.

Across the street, colorful weavings blew gently in the breeze:

Mr. Yang spoke limited English, but he had pieces of paper with sentences and words prewritten in English.

Ben learned that Mr. Yang was 68 years old and was a Master of Calligraphy, as well as a writer, poet, historian, and an expert in the Naxi language.

On the wall, Mr. Yang had pinned pieces of calligraphy that were for sale.

His works were “sayings” in the Naxi pictograph language. He provided Ben with a list of possible choices, and Ben chose “Hope all family health[y]” (thinking of me back in the van).

When Mr. Yang brought Ben the work of calligraphy, he also showed some photos of himself painting, wearing a traditional Naxi headdress.

It was finally time to head to the airport. Here is one last photo of the valley north of Lijiang:

Our plane left at 4:05 p.m. We arrived at our next hotel after midnight, eight hours later, exhausted from a series of mishaps involving canceled flights, delayed connections, and an adventure on the wrong airport bus.

These colorful neon palm trees greeted us at the airport in Guilin.