Today we started out by asking the hotel to help us make some arrangements. We wanted to go for a bamboo cruise down a small portion of the Li river (that is only accessible through one small town -Xing Ping). The hotel staff made a couple of phone calls, getting us bus tickets, a person to take us to the bamboo boat, and the boat ride (all things that it would take us days to plan or at least a frustrated afternoon to give up on).
We also wanted to make sure we got to see the world famous water ballet/drama/local fishermen’s theater…more on this below. So, we also asked the hotel staff to reserve us two seats for that evening’s performance. We’d be cutting it close to jam pack all of this into one day, but given that it wasn’t raining…we were anxious to get the fun underway.
We started off by hopping on the back of a motorcycle (yup, both Ulises and I) behind a nice but sweaty young Chinese guy who drove us out to the right bus to go to Xing Ping. We got on the bus and without incident made it to the countryside, and ultimately to the bamboo boat. Our ferryman took us on the slow boat cruse from one end of the Li to the picturesque turn about just before the river joins up with the Yulong River.
The scenery was indescribable, dotted with water buffalo, children jumping from trees into the river, and fisherman doing what they do best. We traveled for over a half hour before stopping for a break and an impromptu beer with the local vendors who set up shop at the bends in the river. There we were joined by several Chinese tourists who had stopped to eat some watermelon and fried fish, and seemed to find it immensely funny that two sweaty Americans were sitting along the river drinking beer in the middle of the summer.
We hopped back on the boat enjoying the last bit of fresh air and open spaces before we crowded back into the bus for Yangshou. We accomplished all of this with a half hour to spare before that evening’s show. – so we grabbed a bite to eat and waited for our transportation.
Now this show – Impressions Liu Sanjie - is set and performed entirely outdoors in a park/temple setting along the river’s edge. We were prepping ourselves for anything with this show, as our idea of “must see” may not be the same as the folks in Yangshuo, however to give a little intro…
If you saw the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, the director (who also happened to direct a couple of little movies like Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Raise the Red Lantern) well in his time off from being a Chinese national treasure, he came up with this show. It is performed by over 500 local village people, fishermen, and trained dancers – and while the show is a dramatized remake of a 1960’s popular musical movie, it is really all about the setting. It is performed on a moveable floating stage on the Li River and set between the up-lit crags of the Karst Mountains surrounding the river. It was breathtaking, amazing, crazy; awesome…the few snippets of video I caught do not do it justice.
If you are ever in Yangshuo, and happen to have a free evening, and want to see the most spectacular play/musical/synchronized swimming and boating event ever…you must see this!
The amazement at the visuals of the show even managed to overcome the fact that theater etiquette does not exist in China, and the incessant smoking, cell phone talking and eating don’t stop just because you have sat down to enjoy an evening of singing, dancing and live theater. Oh, and it is always a good reminder to keep aware in crowds, for while the practical potty training (which occurs with crotch less pants for boys) does not seem to instill in them a sense of when it is okay to use the picnic attachment outdoors. Let’s just say thank goodness for closed toe shoes!
All said and done, it was a great day in Yangshuo. Tomorrow we are planning to go to Dragon Bridge.
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