09 January 2011

Beijing Travel Adventures: Day 1 - Chinese Acrobat Show




     As I have said before, our first of tour was a very taxing one.  We went to the Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Beijing Zoo, and to a Chinese theater to watch the acrobatics show.  Whew!

     I think we came to the theater, which one I forgot because I didn't take a photo outside, around 6:30 p.m. or so, just a couple of minutes early for the acrobat show.  The theater I believe is one of the older theaters in Beijing, and there are also movies being shown thereat, including Harry Potter.  And because it's old, the decor and the building are dated, although it's clean.  The toilets, on the other hand, stink, at least when we were there.  We were told before hand that picture taking during the show's a no-no, so I was only able to take pictures of the stage while curtain was still closed.  Although there were some who still took pictures, stern ushers were roaming to flash laser lights in your direction to warn you not to do it.  If you didn't heed the first time, the usher will come to you and talk with you, an unwelcome distraction.

     Anyway, the show was an hour or or so, and it was highly entertaining.  The some of the performers were not as tight or as well-practiced as the ones we've seen perform at Shenzhen's Splendid of China troupe.  However, if they lacked in precision, they made it up with their enthusiasm and lively performance.  

     Some of the performances include the lotus dance of some sorts, the one with the sort of revolving plates on stick; the hoops trick where the performers dive through hoops of varying heights and circumference; the skit about who's the strongest one to get the maiden's hand; a few dance numbers; a magic show; and the finale, a motorcycle freak show inside a huge circular metal cage where the motorcycles go round and round inside.  It was so nerve-wracking I couldn't even breathe.  It was death-defying, really.  And after that performance, the audience was dumbfounded, not in the mood to applause because probably, their hearts were still racing.

     One more thing; One of their background western music was twice or thrice used, and the song was old, like in the 80's or early 90's.  I forgot the title of the song but I was laughing really hard when I heard it more than once during the show.  It was like hearing the Macarena thrice and the melody just stuck to your head.  Guess song royalties are expensive.

     And oh, my friends were asleep for most part of the show because they were all tired.  Me?  I have boundless energy especially when traveling.  I'm like the energizer bunny.  Heehee.

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