Impressions Liu Sanjie; thanks, Millie

September 16, 2008, Shanghai, Tuesday

Last night we indeed saw the Impressions Liu Sanjie in Yangshuo. It was created by Zhang Yimou, a filmmaker who also did the Olympics opening ceremonies. From the Impressions, created in 2004, I think, it is easy to see why he was chosen to do the Olympics. Impressions featured a stunning mega-setting (ever more so than the Bird's Nest), cast of hundreds (six hundred; plus six cormorants and two water buffalo)(for the Olympics he had 15,000, but no water buffalo), incredible fire/light/sound effects, much traditional as well as contemporary material, great integral music. Of course, Vicki and I understood not a word of it, even less the narrative flow. Be that as it may, it was yet another unforgettable Li River experience. The setting is the river itself, on an inlet of it, perhaps 300 meters deep and 150 meters wide, bounded on either side by karsts, giant bamboo, banyan. Everything was performed on or near the near shore, but mostly on the water, on movable piers, boats, and the like. The visual effect, at night, was something else. The backdrop was five or so karsts in the distance beyond the river, softly lit. A bonus for last night's audience was a beautiful full moon rising between the karsts. There were a few individual song numbers, but mostly large numbers of dancers and other such, apparently depicting the history and culture of the region. (We picked up on the bamboo punts, the fishing, the cormorants, the water buffalo, etc.). A dazzling variety of scene and costume changes. Yimou is a mega-magician, and one of the things I like about the two performances I have seen is that, occasionally, at the end of a scene, he shows you how he did the trick. I can't imagine a more rewarding experience for the 140 yuan (including transportation) we paid—about 20 bucks.Got to see his films when I can.

On the shuttle to the show we befriended a young woman from Guilin, Millie, who led us about, explained things, and, most importantly, helped us find the shuttle after it was over. Thanks, Millie!

Today was a transit day, a harrowing 90 minute taxi ride from Yangshuo to Guilin airport; then a Shanghai Airline flight to Shanghai, then another taxi ride from Honshuo airport to the downtown Holiday Inn where we are staying. On the plane we befriended a lady from Devon whose tour guide was kind enough to write “Holiday Inn Downtown” for us in Chinese. The "kindness of strangers" bit is real. Shanghai, from what we saw coming in, dwarfs Beijing, utterly. It's not as beastly hot and humid here as it was in Guilin and Yangshuo, both way further south. We spent the afternoon unpacking, reorganizing, researching arrangements for the next (and more adventurous) stages of our China trip. After a decent Chinese breakfast and meal on the plane, we dined at Maison d'Mickey's, then walked around the nearby blocks, including the central train and bus stations. Also another big department store and mall.

On the basis of today's experience, we have further refined our observations about taxi drivers and driving. The “Five Ways” of taxi driving in China are

• get your clients to their destination and collect their payment
• pass anything and everything on the road, from hand-pulled carts to tour buses, including police cars
• fear only on-coming tour buses
• make sure the seat cover precludes client use of seat belts
• do not charge for the thrills

Internet is costing us here, so we may not post much the next few days. We'll be in Shanghai and environs through the 20^th, departing Pudong airport on the afternoon of the 21^st for Dayong and Wulingyuan National Park.

Yes, we 're watching the financial meltdown from here, on CNN International and MSNBC. Also pretty harrowing. Mark

 

Slow day at the Mao shoppe, Yangshou

Bamboo rafting on one of the Li's tributaries

 

Impressions Liu Sanjie

Cast of hundreds...many hundreds