Chiquita Banana

(Carmen Miranda)

Sichuan, Day 4, Part 2

The Chinese are fond of lavish shows.  Almost every town (especially the tourist ones) have a big show of some sort in the evenings.  Jiu Zhai Gou is no different.  At some time during the afternoon of our first day we decided to buy tickets to the town’s big show.  This was done through the hotel owner via an agent.

The plan was for everyone who purchased tickets through this particular agent to meet at a location about a couple blocks from the show’s site.  From there we would be taken on foot to the entrance, then have about 30 minutes to peruse the shops, restaurants, and other stuff before we went into the auditorium.

We made a great effort to be on time, and we were.  Unfortunately, one couple was running late, so we had to wait at the location for some time.  I complained that we were not going to be able to look at the other stuff before the show starts, and that we should leave now.  Still, we waited.  Other people got irritated, too.  (I’m such a rebel rouser!)

We finally took off and arrived at the entrance to theater’s courtyard.

We wandered around the inner courtyard for a bit, but we didn’t have time to visit the shops and other stuff that encircled the theater.  There were lots of Buddhas, large and small, scattered around the courtyard,…

…and a huge one carved into the hillside.

The golden urn in her hand is about 10 feet in height.

You can see from the vertical sign that the exotic English translation of the show’s title is Romance Show.

We took a few photos around the courtyard.  Here are a couple of dragons.

Finally, we were let into the auditorium.  This is half the audience,…

…and this is the other half.

In this second photo note the walkway between the two halves of the audience.  This will come into play later.  (It’s possible you may also note the picture on the screen.)

Like so many shows in China, there were acrobats, which the audience loved.

In case you’re wondering, that is indeed real water pouring across the stage.  Water seems to be a central “figure” in many Chinese shows.

The photos did not come out as well as the video I took of the show, but I’m gonna put some here now in case you want to breeze through them.

There was the obligatory military part of the show, with even more water,…

…but that was nothing compared to the sheet of water that came down on the walkway between the two halves of the audience!

Finally, the finale, with everyone on stage.

Once outside in the courtyard, we heard some music and noticed that everyone was cheering for something.

Walking towards the source of the commotion, we discovered that two of the performers were mingling among the crowd, available for photos.

No, that’s not Carmen Miranda.

The crowd dissipated and we found we were almost completely alone, walking around the shops, etc., which were mostly closed.

We examined the many prayer ribbons scattered along the wooden fence,…

…then headed down this fake alley…

…which in places had paintings and other stuff on the walls.

X23 posed to demonstrate her athleticism,…

…and I demonstrated mine.

“No matter how high or great the throne, what sits on it is the same as your own.”

We found a slanted room (or maybe X23 is slanted),…

…and another room with a weird table setting.

As usual, we were hungry, but now everything seemed closed.  Then we saw a small eating place that was empty…

…except for the cook cleaning up.

We approached her and, thanks to our charm, she agreed to make us some soup.

It looked great to me – at least until she added a bunch of spicy stuff.

In the end, it looked good…

…and tasted great, despite X23’s serious countenance.

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