Chinese Opera

We slept well last night not waking until 6 am. I love the shower at the St. Regis Chengdu. There is a shower wand, a rainfall head and a series of body sprayers that can be selected. I normally take a quick shower but this is exceptional. We went to breakfast with Mark and Cindy at 6:30 then prepared to board the bus for our 8 am departure for the Sanxingdui Museum.

Jade Bi

This museum is a group of building displaying artifacts from a people in the area from the stone and early bronze ages. The first building had a lot of jade artifacts and stones used and food preparation, as weapons and for ornamentation. We saw a lot of the circular disks or bi that we saw at the museum in Wuhan. There were also a number of artifacts that they called tablets but looked more like giant jade swords to us. I found the partially finished items of most interest since they showed more about the process of making the item. There were also some raw stones that

Bronze age sculpture

showed where jade was being cut.

From this museum we walked the short distance to the bronze museum. The first thing we noticed was the size and number of bronze masks. Most of the masks had exaggerated features like huge mouths, bulging eyes and sharp noses. There were also bronze trees were believed to be ceremonial in nature. The museum was very large and we did not have time to see all of the exhibits.

We were appreciative of the handheld voice guides to the museum. We could enter a number for a labeled exhibit item and the device would give a succinct but informative description of the items. Since the archaeological site was used for several years the time span of the artifacts was quite large. It is believed that the stone and Bronze Age populations lived in the area from 7000 to 711 BC.

From the museum we went to a nearby Sichuan restaurant. As the capital of Sichuan, Chengdu is known for spicy Sichuan cuisine. We had a seemingly endless array of chicken, beef, pork and vegetables with sticky rice and noodles. Mark and I had a local beer which was surprisingly light and similar to light beers in the US. Like many other meals we have had in the area, it was served family style with a circular lazy Susan in the center of the table.

We were back at the St. Regis Chengdu by 2 pm and had time to take a walk around the city near the hotel. There were a number of street vendors pushing cell phones, phone plans, foods and other small electronics. It was apparent that the vendors were marketing to locals since we found no one who could speak English. We attempted to negotiate on a couple of things but were unable to communicate well enough to come to an agreement.   We found it interesting that everyone in China pays for things on their phones.  On several occasions we found that even street vendors have QR codes so buyers can easily pay for purchases on their telephones.  Chinese people seldom pay for anything with traditional credit cards or with cash in favor of scanning their phones.

Street vendor selling roasted potatoes and corn

The stands that I found most interesting were selling roasted potatoes and corn from a makeshift wood stove on the back of a three wheel bicycle. It just struck me as odd to have these merchants using technology and tools that could have come from the 1600s.

Walking around Chengdu was a lot more pleasant that our walk around Chongquing on Sunday night. It could be because Sunday was a national holiday weekend. Another related reason could be that there was a concert not far from our hotel. The most probable reason is that Chengdu has about 10 million few people than Chongquing. We also understand from our guides David (Chongqing), Annie (Chengdu) and Patrick that the attitudes of people in Chengdu are a lot more laid back than in other areas. Annie attributes this to the spicy Sichuan food. In any case, our walk was short but pleasant. We went up to our room on the 24th floor of the St. Regis Chengdu to change and get ready for the Chinese opera.

Chinese Opera

We had a short time to get our bags out in the hall outside our sleeping rooms by 4 pm. The checked bags were going to have a 12 hour drive by truck to our Wednesday evening destination in Xian. We laid out clothes for the Tuesday night dinner and opera outing as well as for our Wednesday morning trip to the panda preserve then train ride to Xian.

For dinner we went to the restaurant that is most popular with local Chengdu residents for Sichuan food. There was plenty of the spicy Sichuan food with less highly seasoned options available as well. Like all of our other meals in the area, it was family style with a lazy Susan in the table center. We all enjoyed our meals although we believe that some in our group are beginning to tire of Chinese food and meal procedures.

Chinese Opera

After dinner we had a short bus ride to the Shu Feng Ya Yun Sichuan Opera and Tea Room in Chengdu. The venue was a covered courtyard surrounded by local shops. We were seated around tables of five with tea cups and snack bowls at each place at the tables. The porcelain tea cups had loose green tea in the bottom with a lid that could be tilted to strain the leaves from the tea. As preparations for the show were being made, we were invited to watch the cast prepare their makeup and costumes. There were vendors selling snacks and food. We were especially interested in the practice of offering massage and ear cleaning off stage before the performance. We did not take advantage of any of the goods or services being offered. Throughout the performance there were servers circulating with pots of hot water to refill our tea cups. These pots had spouts up to three feet long so the servers could reach the cups of guests sitting back from the aisles. It was amazing that they were able to fill each patron’s cup multiple times throughout the play without spilling hot water on the guests.

The performance started with a skit involving actors in elaborate traditional Chinese costumes. Acrobats did flips across the stage and the characters sang and danced. A scrolling LED sign told the story as the actors sang but it was all in Chinese so it really didn’t help. The skit, like most of the ones to follow, lasted only about 10 minutes. Other skits were much easier to understand and were more enjoyable to us. A musician played a Chinese style violin which has only two strings. He was very talented and played beautifully. We kidded that he is China’s answer to Charlie Daniels.

Shadow puppets at the Chinese Opera

The next act was a skit with a hand puppet that moved realistically. A musician played a small brass instrument that seemed to be a little like a bugle but was the size of a recorder. We all loved the lady doing shadow puppets. Using only her hands, she made birds, rabbits, wolves, dogs, owls, cats and other animals. There was a costume skit about two wise men who used their wisdom to trick an evil warlord and one about a henpecked man that included some balance and acrobatics stunts.

The final act was costume changing with is very popular in China. Singers came out in traditional robes of warriors with masks. They would change the color of their robes in the flash of an eye, too quick to discern how they removed their robes to reveal another color beneath. They then came into the audience and changed masks in similar fashion. We were amazed with the skill and precision of the actors and had a great evening. In addition, the skits changed frequently enough that it kept us engaged.

This performance was nothing of what we expected from a Chinese opera but we certainly enjoyed it.