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.
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