China 062

Friday, June 30, 2006

Xi'an to Hangzhou

Twice two nights ago my message did not connect with the fershluggener blogger site. I'll do these blogs piecemeal now.

Xi'an as a shouting opera, which Westerners cannot seem to sit through too long. It's a predecessor of theBeijing opera. However, a favorite seems to be the Anhui opera, where I visited over ten years ago.

As some of us passed along the streets of Xi'an, one of our students popped out of a shop called Purple Haze to say Hey. I had to investigate what the shop was (shades of Jimi Hendrix). It was a hairdresser cum snack bar. Two if our crew got their hair done there (a male as well as a female).

Watched a Tang Dynasty show. The music was very nice.

Plane to Hangzhou. Despite half hour delay on the tarmac, it was an easy two-hour flight. Hot in Hangzhou: 95 degrees and high humidity. I've never been here so it is a real treat. Boated on West Lake, which has a scene which is depicted on the one Yuan note: the three moon-reflecting pools. Elaine and Frosty would like this place. It has little pollution, due to emphasis on light or high-tech industry; it has preserved a lot of the foliage; it has planted a lot, too. Lot of prosperity. Even peasants have built multi-storey homes here. Gated communities exist.

Went to the Six Harmonies Pagoda, about a thousand years old. Octagonal and wooden, 13-storeys on the outside, 7 on the inside.

Then to the Song Dynasty show in a Song Dynasty village. The show was a spectacle with, rain (mist fell on the audience), something resembling snow, stage and front seats mechanically moving to reconfigure area, horses galloping, a spectacular laser light show, cannons firing, and I'll try to think of what else.

Took a late evening walk. Street shops are open and there are a lot of people out in the hot night.

Our hotel has coffee for breakfast.

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