Beijing Opera 京剧

We had the chance to see Beijing Opera with Yellow's Chinese class. We weren't quite sure what to expect, and let's just say that it is definitely different from the usual western opera experience.  There are many similarities of course in that it involves costumes, music, dance, and vocals. However, you have to make some adjustments upon entering the venue. First of all, the colors are so extremely bright that your eyes need a minute to adjust. Then the sound of the music and the singing at first are quite jolting as the keys are different than what we are accustomed to, but after a few minutes your ears get used to it and its quite nice.

 

It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. It  was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China.

 

They had subtitled the words in Chinese characters on the sides of the stage. Yellow was trying to follow along, but it was way to fast. It was fine though because the storyline was very understandable through their actions, and we got most of it. Our favorite part of the performance was their facial expressions, which were so great. You can catch a few of them from the pictures below.

 



 

 

Ding Jitang's Woodcut Prints

While wandering through the Muslim Market we came across some beautiful pieces of peasant art. The artist, Ding Jitang, is from Chenggu, China which is another city in the Shaanxi Province.

 

In 1956 he started painting in Huxian County, the birthplace of peasant painting in China, and has brought up many other artists there.  It's just about an hour from Xi'an. His shop features his work as well as his students. He happened to be in when we stopped by, so we got to speak with him some. He showed us his work and also some of the places around the world where his artwork has been exhibited.

 

Woodcutting is an artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, which allows for multiple prints to be made. The first two that we've posted here are ones that we brought home.

 

 

 

Daxuexi Xiang Mosque

As you know from previous posts, there is a Chinese minority people group called the Hui here in Xi'an (and other parts of China) that are Muslim.  As far as we know Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity were first introduced to China in the 7th century. You can see the presence of this people group around Xi'an especially in the Muslim Quarter but most other parts of the city too. For example, we have several halal restaurants very close by and a Muslim meat market where we can find beef and mutton.

 

While walking around the Muslim Quarter, we stumbled across the Daxuexi Xiang Mosque, which is the second largest mosque in Xian, next to the Great Mosque in Huajue Lane. It is also called the West Mosque.

 

We visited quite a few mosques this summer while visiting Istanbul, but this is the first mosque we've visited in China.  We were quite intrigued by the mix of Chinese and Islamic architecture.