Choir Concert in the Forbidden City

Photo: Choir at the Forbidden City Concert Hall (poor quality of photo is because I had to use my mobile phone camera)

On to the second to last night in Beijing. I think this will be my last entry about China. The Choir had the opportunity to sing their entire program in the performance hall located within the Forbidden City, on the eastern edge. We, the choir lackeys, were able to obtain tickets at a significantly discounted price. Our tickets cost us $5.00, but according to the ticket stub, had a face value of about $85 US. It wasn’t a sell out, but it did have reasonably good attendance. The choir did a fantastic job, and again, as before, it was a super crowd pleaser that they sang “Same Song” and invited the audience to sing along in the expected parts. Our local tour guide assigned to our bus told us the next day that their Chinese pronunciation was very good. She was able to go, as I later found out, because a couple of choir members from our bus bought a ticket for her. The acoustics of that theater were not the best I have heard, but they were a marked improvement over the acoustics in the theater in Shanghai. It was interesting how the program was MC’ed. At first, prior to the intermission, a young man got up to announce the choir and made a few comments. He read from a piece of paper in his hand, and did so in a very robotic manner. Apparently, one of our head tour guides, Tang Cai, was going to be the MC, but with all that had happened earlier that day (when Afton fell and broke her knee), the tour company owner from the US forgot to bring Cai’s suit, so at first, he refused to go on stage. But after hearing the other MC a couple of time, he put on someone’s sports coat and went out, and did a wonderful job. I, of course, couldn’t understand much of what he said, but I did understand that he said the choir came from America, and that it had been invited to the festival in Shanghai. The next time he came out, he told of our tour route, from Shanghai, to Xian, and then to Beijing. Although I didn’t understand any of the words he said next, I was able to understand what he said, as he told the audience that the choir had brought with them many friends and family, who were seated in the audience. All of the audience in front of us turned around in the seats to look back at us, but as most us didn’t catch on to what was said, almost everyone in our group also turned to look behind us to see what everyone in front of us was looking at. That was funny, indeed, as most of our group never figured out, until maybe sometime later, that we were the ones being pointed out. I told the few sitting next me that he was referring to us.
Photo: Choir at Shanghai Concert Hall, Opening Ceremony. This hall had good acoustics, the other place for the Sunday concert did not.

Prior to the concert, I went for a walk with Kraig Loveland as we had some time to kill. We walked to the north side of the Forbidden City, where, earlier in the day, I had notices a store that sold camera batteries and memory cards, so I went to see if I could find a rechargeable battery for my and Mom’s camera, as we were snapping so many photos that our batteries only lasted half the day. Even though it was the second to last day, I knew that the next day we were going to see the Great Wall and also drive by the Olympic Stadium, so wanted to have enough battery life. I found the right shop, and after some negotiations, was able to buy the batteries for about $14 each. Still probably more than the best price, but not too bad, I suppose. At first he wanted about $80 for one (I believe that almost all the vendors that deal with tourists operate under the principle of “never give a sucker an even break” and “every tourist is a potential sucker.”) After that on the way back, I ended up buying a Breitling watch, which according to the street vendor, “is almost as good as the real thing” Well, we shall see how long my $12 US investment lasts before falling apart.

On the way to the airport the next day, we were on the toll freeway, when traffic came to a stop because there was a wedding party (I looked like a wedding party, anyway) stopped on the freeway, with seven stretch limos. The guide said something about them having VIP status, so I guess that means they can stop and block traffic where every they want. They even had a police escort. I didn’t ever figure out why they were stopped there, but I just see that as another unique aspect of life in China.

Once we flew out of China and landed in Icheon airport in Korea, I really wanted to venture outside to say that I had truly been in South Korea. I believe it would have been possible, but the still small voice told me not to do it, and I listened. Had I not, Mom and I might still be in Seoul...who knows. I only know that no good would have come from leaving the airport. I was told by someone in my ward that everyone in Korea eats kimchi. I really wanted to try it. As I was not able to leave the airport, I looked and found a restaurant in the airport that served kimchi, so I gave it a taste. I loved it. It was very “pica” (spicy hot) as my family would say. On two of the airplane rides I was able to also try bimibap. I was impressed, and that was airplane food! It was also pica and very tasty. Based on that, I feel the need to now visit Korea and sample the food. Who knows, maybe Korea also has some interesting sights to see. Chinese food is very bland to our palette (I think that it why the Chinese restaurants in the USA add so much MSG), but it seems the Koreans like to really spice things up.