Today we had to cram in two meetings in the morning because we had plans in the afternoon to sightsee. So, for four hours in two back-to-back lectures we learned about desertification and conservation in a university building nearby. After lunch we had yet another meeting, this time with Prof. Yin to discuss our projects. Miscommunication caused most of our group to be late¡we were going to the Beijing Opera after, but weren't sure if we should change before or after the last meeting. Turns out before, and I'm sure everyone knows the rate at which girls get ready when they want to look nice¡the last group made it into the meeting room over a half hour late. Prof. Yin was not happy.
We drove to downtown Beijing after our meeting and had an hour to walk around and shop along the stores lining the streets. It was fun¡there were vendors outside selling fruits of every color and weird-shaped vegetables, more with grills selling food on sticks, and others selling clothes and such. The stores themselves were nice. We mostly stayed in a group until we found a shoe store two stories high. I'm not even a shoe person but I thought this place was awesome¡everything was so cheap! A pair that would cost $30-$40 in the US was around $10 here. I made the mistake of asking a saleslady how to say ¡°red¡± in Chinese, which she didn't understand but thought I was asking something very important. She started calling over other salesladies until there were four people around me, making me sit down and bringing me water and helping me try on the nearest red shoe. I felt awful when I didn't end up buying anything after everything they did for me.
We had dinner at the Opera before actually watching it. True to what we'd been eating, we had dozens of dishes of vegetables, meats, and nuts. I have been getting more used to the food and am starting to actually enjoy it. The only problem is when Dr. Yin orders he goes crazy and gets one of almost everything, it seems. Our group gets two tables wherever we eat, and the amount of food brought to each table could easily feed both. We always leave a substantial amount when we leave.
One thing I don't like about Chinese food so far is that they don't serve dessert as we know it. I end up craving cookies or pie or anything sweet when I¡¯m done. They do have little pastry-like things every once in awhile that have black or red bean curd inside (which is sweet) but the cooks need to learn that bean curd is no substitution for chocolate.
We met people from the University of Chicago who were going to the Opera, also. Small world.
The Opera was¡interesting. I cannot describe to you what the woman's voice sounded like. It was high pitched and whiny, but apparently it was beautiful and she'd spent a decade to get it to sound like that. If anyone asks when I get home I'll try and do an impression¡it won't be pretty :) The first show lasted around a half hour, and while the ¡°music¡± was playing there were subtitles in English and Chinese so I could just about follow the plot. I put music in paranthesis because it sounded like the band had picked up kitchen untensiles and were banging them together. I wish I had a sound clip I could put on the site for everyone just so they could hear the full affect. It's a very strange sound.
Dr. Qi helped describe the plot to me when the scene was over to make sure I didn't miss anything.
¡°See, the emperor is upset because he's surrounded on all sides, and his concubine, who he loves very much and has been with him for ten years, is upset that he is in low spirits. She decides to leave him to help him cheer up. When he still doesn¡¯t cheer up, she comes back, worrying that a depressed emperor will not be good for the troops. In the end she decides to kill herself as the ultimate deed to cheer him up.¡±
I was confused. ¡°How does killing herself cheer up the emperor? Wouldn't it have the opposite effect?¡±
Dr. Qi explained ¡°no, because she killed herself so he would cheer up and be happy, and if he doesn't cheer up then her death will be for nothing.¡±
okkkkkkaaaayyyyy... It still made no sense to me, but I guess since it's not my culture I'm not meant to totally understand.
The next Opera was amazing¡it featured Monkey King, who seems to be very popular in Beijing. There was lots of music but no singing¡this play concentrated on martial arts and fighting. The choreography was amazing. People came out doing flip, back handsprings, all sort of acrobatics¡and the fight scenes were very cool. There was no talking so I honestly have no idea what the plot was for this one, except that the Monkey King needed to fight dozens of people and in the end wins. All in all it was a good experience and I'm glad I saw it. I'm not sure if I'd go again, but if was fun to see once.
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