Beijing Opera

When I first arrived in China, I promised myself I would attend the Peking Opera while I was here despite the negative feedback I had gotten from almost everyone I asked. The opportunity finally came this Sunday when I attended a matinee performance at the Lao She Teahouse near the South Gate of Tiananmen Square with my Chinese friend, Laura. Although the program was in Chinese, Laura was able to give me an idea of the story. There were excerpts from three famous operas.

Like Western opera, Chinese opera has dramatic stories, elaborate costumes and well-known arias. The performers use hand gestures, facial expressions, roll their eyes, and even use their costumes to effectively convey the meaning of their actions or their song. The music, though seemingly discordant, is well synchronized with the singer's aria and gestures, alerting the audience to the importance of a particular scene. The audience will occasionally sing along during well-known arias and during the less important scenes will talk, socialize, eat sunflower seeds and drink tea.

I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon at the opera and regret I won't have time to attend again during this trip.