Experiences means occasional clip blogs!

For all that is great in this country it must be balanced by all that is strange. For a change of pace, I thought I would visually share some of my experiences for y'all. Here is a video of a Peking Opera we attended one Sunday night. It is entirely in Chinese, and despite the English subtitles I'm still at a loss for the plot. However, the colorful costumes, atrocious singing and cultural wealth kept me interested. As usual, I try to pass on a bit of my acquired knowledge: The Peking Opera was entertainment put on for a particular empress at the summer palace. Once a month for six days she could expect to see a new show in similar format and be entertained for an entire summer. For us, one night was enough. Enjoy.



Shrimp complete with eyes, scorpion and shish-ka-bob hearts may be on my black list, but Peking duck is not! I'm a notoriously picky eater, with the exception of chicken and beef, I would typically prefer to name my meat than eat it, but in the spirit of trying new things and being in China, I found it necessary to try something a little "gamey." While I could regale you with the detailed preparation steps for Peking Duck, I will opt out and just tell you that there is a reason it is so expensive (no, I didn't pay for this meal). Anyway, the video portrays our chef cutting the duck into 90 equal pieces, which you then roll in tortilla-like pancakes and add onions and soy sauce.




I'm certainly glad that I didn't have aspirations of being an artist because the fluid talent of this man's calligraphy would have promised a career change. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name, but he was supposedly one of the best calligraphy artists around. We intruded on a lesson between him and his student, but both were eager to show us the true art of Chinese characters. In this video he is making something special for one of the girls in our group. I believe this translates to "bold" or "gutsy." I was, however, neither when it came to showing off my Chinese to several news cameras. I opted to document the process, however shaky it may be.

Enjoy all the videos guys. I have a few more, but I didn't think Chinese Hooters girls line dancing would be appropriate for the blog. However, if y'all want to see the video, I will be happy to share it. Until next time!

~Molly