It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

Sichuan Trip, Day 3, Part 1

I rarely take tours, always preferring to get my own transportation and wander. (“Mentally confused and prone to wandering”) We came across an ad for a tour to the famous Dujiangyan Dam and a couple other nearby places, so we signed up. Our instructions were to be at a certain street corner near our hotel at some ungodly hour.

We left even earlier than we needed, so we picked up a couple of weird sandwiches for breakfast.

Eventually the bus picked us up and drove for an hour out of Chengdu to a Taoist Temple. While the tour guide was arranging for our entrance into the Temple, we watched the obligate tai chi group in the adjacent park.

Once inside the gate, the entire tour group (about 30) immediately headed toward the steps that led up to the Temple proper. Except us. We saw some guy giving archery lessons off to the side, so decided that the short time we had there was better spent learning how to defend ourselves from those violent tai chi people.

I think the last time I shot an arrow was in 8^th or 9^th grade with a friend in Montecito named John Schneider. Anyway, after brief instructions, I put the arrow on the string,…

…pulled it back,…

…and let go. I might even have hit the target if I had kept my eyes open.

We spent our last remaining 10 minutes looking at old jars,…

…old clothes,…

…and old chairs.

Upon exiting the Temple gate, we were comforted in knowing we had made the right decision to take archery lessons as the tai chi people had now armed themselves.

We hopped back onto the bus and went to Dujiangyan Dam, a very popular tourist site. A cute car took us in small groups to the official entrance.

We got separated temporarily from our group before getting our tickets, so we were forced to sit on a little footbridge and watch the pretty girls go by.

Finally, we entered the grounds, which is a large park with footpaths,…

…sculpted schrubs,…

…and waterfalls.

We came upon a large pond with large koi…

…and a not-so-large kid massacring them with a squirt gun.

There was the ever-present food stand with spicy snacks…

…and then a group of dances doing their thing for us passersby.

To get to our destination, we had to cross a narrow suspension bridge that was already swinging wildly over a raging river.

We approached the bridge…

…and wobbled across, pleased to see someone fixing the grip on one of the railings.

Our destination was a large amphitheater where we were going to watch one of those famous Chinese extravaganzas with hundreds of people dancing while telling a story. We were a little early and sat in a section with few people around us. Off to the right were a lot of people sitting in a shady part of the amphitheater, not realizing that, by the time the show started, they, too, would be in the sun.

This is what was in front of us:

Eventually, people started coming onto the “stage”

Soon we noticed that water was coming down the main stairway.

The whole show was about the history of the area and the importance of water and the building of the dam.

The hat on the lady in front of me was attractive to a predaceous insect aptly known as an “assassin bug.”

As the show progressed, the flow rate of the water increased.

The heroine arrives. How did she keep from slipping on the wet pavement? Special shoes?

I believe this dance depicts workers in the rice paddies.

As the sun rose higher, out came the umbrellas.

At least this one has an artistic origin.

The heroine is approached by the hero.

A couple of young acrobats or contortionists?

Occasionally, a couple performers would come right up to the seats.

Then out comes the big red banner…

…and fake trumpeters in blue.

Now, the wedding. As part of the traditional ceremony, the bride is helped to step slowly over a hibachi, which signifies the burning away of unlucky things, thus ensuring the couple will have a prosperous future.

Here’s an analogous photo from a real wedding.

The large red ribbon with the knot in the middle evidently represents something along the lines of the American saying of “tying the knot” when getting married.

And finally, the groom carries off the bride.

After one more jumping acrobat,…

…the music stops and the stage empties. Many people leave the amphitheater, not noticing that a small cabin is beginning to be revealed by rotating shrubs.

I get up to leave, but X23 tells me it’s not over. (She evidently had read about this online.) Indeed, there is now more music and dancing girls with large red lanterns.

In China, red lanterns during festivals, weddings, and Chinese New Year, like firecrackers, means life will be more prosperous.

Then we see outside the cabin that the wandering son is greeted warmly by his parents while people continue to leave, unaware.

The show continues, with more banners (yellow and white this time) coming out,…

…and as more water emerges, the performers wave goodbye.

Finally, we leave…

…and we’re the last two onto the tour bus: all the others left at the fake ending. They gave us nasty looks.

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