In China, I’ve seen several cultural performances. Some interesting, others boring, and a couple rendering me speechless. In Yangshuo the show is set on the river with the karst mountains towering behind, and the performers singing from one side of the river to the other, or creating beautiful illusions from their bamboo rafts on the water. This show included about five of the local minorities all living in the surrounding villages and portrayed their cultures traditional practices regarding love and marriage. This show was beautiful, relaxing, and really made you appreciate how traditional some cultures still are around the world.
In Lijiang we discovered another cultural performance choreographed by the same director as not only the Beijing Olympics opening show, but also the cultural Impressions show in Yangshuo. This show was set on a red rock, multi-leveled stage with Lijiang’s Snow Mountain towering behind it. The backdrop alone had me looking around in awe for the twenty-five minutes before the show ever began.
Never before have my eyes began to well up with tears in face of an event that is not at all sad, love-filled, or emotional in the slightest.
The moment the music started I was on the edge of my seat, and for the next sixty-five minutes, I never relaxed into the back of my chair. The show began with 200 men all dressed ready for battle storming onto the stage with the most incredible scenery and dramatic music leading them through each individual movement. The effect of each element syncing into one performance had me blinking back tears within the first sixty seconds of the show. Throughout the performance there were musicians with drums and handmade instruments integrating themselves in with the audience, horses running around the perimeter of the arena, and more than twenty-five minorities represented each with their unique, colorful clothing each portraying their own version of their daily lives.
This performance was more based around the livelihood of men between battles and being drunk with only a quick glance of women being sent off with their new husbands. Although created by the same director as the performance in Yangshuo, by no means can these two events be compared. This is quite possibly one of the most visually stimulating performances I’ve ever experienced, and the setting in which it was performed only enhanced the visual aspects to an astounding, indescribable level.
At the end of the show the actors encouraged everyone to stand up with them to perform a few last movements all together. In unison everyone stood up following the lead of over 500 performers breathing in deeping and lifting their hands to their foreheads, shielding themselves from the afternoon sun to look out and appreciate the magnificent view of Snow Mountain, their sacred, forever protected mountain, looming overhead.
As the Chinese quickly filed out of the arena, before the performers could completely exit the stage, my two friends and I stood motionless, watching the final pictures and credits progress through to the end. The Chinese slowly filed out and the cleaning women came in to prepare the arena for the next performance before any of us ever moved. We had all welled up with tears during various moments throughout the show and could have stayed another two hours watching the performers continue on. Leaving the arena, even having experienced the performance together, we struggled to put words to how amazing it truly was. Although we agree that this show cannot be compared to the show in Yangshuo, it without a doubt left a bigger impression on us.
The newest show added to Zhang Yimou’s repertoire is now performed on Hangzhou’s West Lake, one of the first places I visited in China, and is still one of my favorite places to visit. No matter how detailed of a description I write, or how many photos I take, the experience of these shows could never be fully enjoyed without attending the show itself.
The most interesting part of these shows is that they are located in three of my favorite locations in China. Not only have these shows left a lifelong impression on me, they are also performed in three of the most beautiful, interesting locations in China. If ever in your life you are interested in visiting China, build your itinerary around these three shows and you’ll have a trip that may discourage your future plans of travel to any other country, for fear that they will not live up to what you’ll experience here in China.
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