Well, mostly it's included freezing and thawing out again. The weather here is really quite pleasant in the right circumstances. It's just that wind, man! It's straight out of Siberia, and you can feel it. It just shoots right through you! It actually hurts when the wind blows. But when it's still (rare stolen moments, but still) it's actually not bad at all. Alas, tourism requires that I be outdoors for hours at a time, and frankly by the time I get in, I'm frozen through. Which is where I'm at right now. Brrrr...a cup of tea, a blanket, and my hot water bottle aren't even putting a dent in it...
Anyway, the night after I went to the Great Wall, I was feeling full of initiative, so I went to see a Peking Opera. It was awesome. Or at least I liked it. There weren't many people there, and several of them left after the first number. It's not for everybody, I guess. But I thought it was great. The costumes are really flashy and the music is noisy and full of percussion clanging away like a kid who got into the pots and pans. Bang bang bang bang bang!!! Gong! Tiny little bells! Now back to banging! It's just as ear-jarring as it looks in writing, but somehow it fits. The action itself is really formalized. Lots of posing and posturing with formalized recitation, interrupted by the occasional song or spectacular martial arts smackdown, sometimes for no apparent reason. And the drag queens! Did I say drag queens? I mean highly trained men acting in the female roles with falsettos more convincing than any soprano I'll ever pull off. The lady boys of Southeast Asia would be eating their hearts out if they could see the fabulous outfits these men wear and the elegance with which they comport themselves...As you can tell, I thought it was all marvellous. Maybe I'll track down some more tonight if I can bring myself to get out from under my blanket again.
Yesterday I went to the Temple of Heaven which was cool, but would have been more enjoyable without my Siberian friend the wind. But I love Chinese parks. When I arrived (at 11AM on a Thursday) the park was filled with interesting characters. A guy with a mic and mobile amp singing away while a bearded guy flitted around like a bird. A group of people waltzing in an open square, people singing all manner of songs to the elderly folks who get together there to play cards and mahjong and all kinds of other games. And my personal favorite, the pickup opera chorus. Apparently people just kind of come and go as they like, bringing their own music or looking on with someone else, singing lively operatic choruses (in Chinese, none I recognized) while a guy with an accordion played along. As I wandered around, I ended up walking behind this tenor with a lovely voice who was still singing softly to himself as we walked under the cedars. I don't know if he realized I was listening, but I enjoyed the walk a great deal.
The temple itself was great, but not as impressive as the hype would lead one to believe. Maybe it would be cooler if I could feel my face and fingers, and I could have paused and found things to like. I know that the artwork decorating the place was well worthy of greater study, but I couldn't stand in one place for too long - had to keep moving to keep the blood flowing. I'm sure the place was quite impressive when the emperors came to make their dramatic firey sacrifices to the god of heaven. And the gardens must be exquisite in their season. This just wasn't that season.
After that, I went to the pearl market next door and checked out the stuff there. Most of the market isn't actually pearls. Just the usual tourist junk, but the top floor has some serious bling. I did some significant bargaining over a few trinkets - guy wanted 180 Yuan for a snow globe. That's almost 40 bucks US. "Very cheap!" he told me. Perhaps if the thing had been encrusted in the pearls upstairs. Clearly he has a rather skewed notion of what cheap is...
Today was the Forbidden city and Tienamen Square. First I went to see Chairman Mao. It's quite the experience. You go in there and there's a giant statue of him in his chair, and there are literally hundreds of flowers at his feet. Then you pass into the next room and sure enough...there's Mao...under glass...creepiest thing I ever saw. Even creepier than the mummies. At least the Egyptians stashed their eternally preserved sovereigns tastefully out of sight...
The Forbidden City is amazing. I wish I'd taken more pictures, but I couldn't get my fingers to work and I kind of gave up for all but the most spectacular sights. The place is a labyrinth of amazing luxury. But same as the Temple of Heaven, I couldn't fully enjoy it because I was so cold. In the end, after 4+ hours, I had to give up and head home. My brain was just numb. I'll have to come back someday and see all of this in summer when I can actually think about something other than how cold I am. Lucky for me Japan will be warmer. I think tomorrow I'll just admit defeat and do some indoor museums. No sense seeing the Summer Palace in the dead of winter just to say I saw it.
Ok, can't feel the fingers...no more typing! Time for another cup of tea!
Anyway, the night after I went to the Great Wall, I was feeling full of initiative, so I went to see a Peking Opera. It was awesome. Or at least I liked it. There weren't many people there, and several of them left after the first number. It's not for everybody, I guess. But I thought it was great. The costumes are really flashy and the music is noisy and full of percussion clanging away like a kid who got into the pots and pans. Bang bang bang bang bang!!! Gong! Tiny little bells! Now back to banging! It's just as ear-jarring as it looks in writing, but somehow it fits. The action itself is really formalized. Lots of posing and posturing with formalized recitation, interrupted by the occasional song or spectacular martial arts smackdown, sometimes for no apparent reason. And the drag queens! Did I say drag queens? I mean highly trained men acting in the female roles with falsettos more convincing than any soprano I'll ever pull off. The lady boys of Southeast Asia would be eating their hearts out if they could see the fabulous outfits these men wear and the elegance with which they comport themselves...As you can tell, I thought it was all marvellous. Maybe I'll track down some more tonight if I can bring myself to get out from under my blanket again.
Yesterday I went to the Temple of Heaven which was cool, but would have been more enjoyable without my Siberian friend the wind. But I love Chinese parks. When I arrived (at 11AM on a Thursday) the park was filled with interesting characters. A guy with a mic and mobile amp singing away while a bearded guy flitted around like a bird. A group of people waltzing in an open square, people singing all manner of songs to the elderly folks who get together there to play cards and mahjong and all kinds of other games. And my personal favorite, the pickup opera chorus. Apparently people just kind of come and go as they like, bringing their own music or looking on with someone else, singing lively operatic choruses (in Chinese, none I recognized) while a guy with an accordion played along. As I wandered around, I ended up walking behind this tenor with a lovely voice who was still singing softly to himself as we walked under the cedars. I don't know if he realized I was listening, but I enjoyed the walk a great deal.
The temple itself was great, but not as impressive as the hype would lead one to believe. Maybe it would be cooler if I could feel my face and fingers, and I could have paused and found things to like. I know that the artwork decorating the place was well worthy of greater study, but I couldn't stand in one place for too long - had to keep moving to keep the blood flowing. I'm sure the place was quite impressive when the emperors came to make their dramatic firey sacrifices to the god of heaven. And the gardens must be exquisite in their season. This just wasn't that season.
After that, I went to the pearl market next door and checked out the stuff there. Most of the market isn't actually pearls. Just the usual tourist junk, but the top floor has some serious bling. I did some significant bargaining over a few trinkets - guy wanted 180 Yuan for a snow globe. That's almost 40 bucks US. "Very cheap!" he told me. Perhaps if the thing had been encrusted in the pearls upstairs. Clearly he has a rather skewed notion of what cheap is...
Today was the Forbidden city and Tienamen Square. First I went to see Chairman Mao. It's quite the experience. You go in there and there's a giant statue of him in his chair, and there are literally hundreds of flowers at his feet. Then you pass into the next room and sure enough...there's Mao...under glass...creepiest thing I ever saw. Even creepier than the mummies. At least the Egyptians stashed their eternally preserved sovereigns tastefully out of sight...
The Forbidden City is amazing. I wish I'd taken more pictures, but I couldn't get my fingers to work and I kind of gave up for all but the most spectacular sights. The place is a labyrinth of amazing luxury. But same as the Temple of Heaven, I couldn't fully enjoy it because I was so cold. In the end, after 4+ hours, I had to give up and head home. My brain was just numb. I'll have to come back someday and see all of this in summer when I can actually think about something other than how cold I am. Lucky for me Japan will be warmer. I think tomorrow I'll just admit defeat and do some indoor museums. No sense seeing the Summer Palace in the dead of winter just to say I saw it.
Ok, can't feel the fingers...no more typing! Time for another cup of tea!
2 comments:
Kate,
When you get home, you must eat an entire brick of cheese to wash down the whine!!!
You get no Sympathy until I know temperatures were at least -0- and winds 20MPH. I jogged this morning at 8 degrees in the snow uphill both ways.
Seriously, sorry it is so cold. If you had grown up in the Hudson Valley, this would be a breeze and a slight chill. Nikki and Lou will attest to how good you had it in NH.
Stay warm, stay safe, stay away from Aholes in parks. Did you learn anything in NYC?
Dad
I think if I'd had an autumn to get used to being cold, it would have been easier. It's just coming from sweating in tank tops in Bangkok straight to miserable cold makes it seem so much worse. Plus nobody here believes in insulation or heating the insides of buildings...
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