ERA——“时空之旅”

So last Sunday I had the pleasure of seeing the Chinese Circus. The performance was called ERA. One of my friends organized the occasion and about 10 of us from school ended up going to the show.

When we arrived at the performance center, the building looked like a giant igloo, almost similar to the old center where the Philadelphia Eagles have their pre-season training. Or it looked more like taking the Epcot circular ball thing and cut it in half:

To summarize it, the performances consisted not of your regular Barnum & Bailey acts, but instead a romanticized assortment of various acrobatic, physical, throwing and bending feats. The first part of the show had a semi-transparent circular enclosure. People in costumes biked in circles around the enclosure. Some wore bicycle helmets (shock of all shocks!) and the costumes were bright and tight- very reminiscent of the 80s.

Following this was a multimedia show with the viewpoint of a man bicycling through town. He then entered the stage biking carrying a large wagon behind him. On the wagon was a giant pot, which he opened. Then four women did walking handstands out of the pot toward offstage. The man wore a black vest that was a bit too small (and showed his belly and love handles), and he wore beat up baggy pants. Then male acrobats entered from nowhere, set up rings and started to dive through the rings are regular (and irregular intervals).

Other acts included a male and female acrobatic duet where there were two ribbon-type things hanging from the ceiling. They danced together and performed amazing feats. There were also other acrobats on stilts standing on a see-saw where two/three people would jump off, land on the opposite side, and propel the person on stilts into the air. The person on stilts would then flip and land (somehow) elegantly on the ground.

Other women acrobats:

The man with the black vest and pants also did a routine where he was throwing a large heavy ming dynasty (blue and white) designed pot. He would throw it 20 feet into the air and catch it without breaking. He also used the back of his neck to catch the falling vase. The beginning of the show also had a woman throwing bowls to a man balanced on a piece of board that was on a rolling cylinder. He would then catch it, balance a bowl on his foot, throw his foot up and catch the bowl on his head. He then took two bowls (with the first bowl still on his head), balanced them on his foot, threw it up into the air, and had the two bowls land on the bowl already on his head. He did this until about 15 or so bowls were on his head, followed by a drinking glass. Then he tried (3 times, but with no success) to get a spoon to balance in the glass that was in the stack of 15+ bowls. It was crazy.

My favorite acts were by far the last performance of the first act and the last performance of the second act. The first act had this strange wheel contraption with men inside the inner wheels to propel it forward, followed by a variety of men on top of the inner wheels, walking, doing cartwheels, walking on their hands, walking blindfolded, etc. There were at least 7 times when these men almost fell. They could have seriously hurt themselves but it was mind boggling how amazing they were.

The end of the second act consisted of a metal cage and motorcycles driving inside of it, in formations, and around the cage 360 degrees (both vertically and horizontally!!) This last picture will give you a better idea:
Yes, those white and red lines are people on motorcycles driving around inside the cage. There were 6 of the motorcyclists driving in there at one point. Simply dangerous and breathtaking.

You know you're back in China when...

You know you're back in China when...
- regularly seeing people outside wearing face masks doesn't surprise you.
- seeing someone pick up a piece of trash and throw it away does surprise you.
- the number of bikes on the street equals the number of cars on the street.
- while biking, you are un-fazed by cars driving within six inches of you.
- $15 for a fake bag is considered expensive.
- the standard person walking down the street stares at you.
- constant congestion is considered normal and even expected.
- some trucks are the same size as a regular American 4-door sedan.
- adults often play at the local playground.
- fireworks can be heard at random hours, either at night or during the day.
- cooking at home can be more expensive than eating out at a restaurant (depending on where you go.)
- you can get a delicious bowl of noodles for about $0.60.

Jet lag and cloudy days

For the most part I've been working and sleeping. This is good. I'm using my first week back in China to simply re-acclimate to the routine, culture, weather, my work and people.

Unfortunately the weather here leaves something to be desired. Since arriving Sunday afternoon I have yet to see sunshine. The weather has been a combination of cold rain, gloomy and overcast. We're apparently supposed to get sunshine on Friday, but I think it's pretty pathetic to go 5 days straight without directly seeing the sun. I also did not miss the air quality. I'm considering purchasing an air filter for my home but I honestly do not know how much air filters actually help the air in your home. Does anyone know for sure?

I've started reading the newspaper on-line (shocker of all shocks!) and there is a depressing article about China's air quality. It specifically focuses on Beijing in preparation for the Olympics but environmental issues are an ongoing problem here because China constantly ignores environmental issues. The air quality on "Blue Sky days" in Beijing is still considered severely polluted by European and Untied States standards. I worry about the obvious increase in health problems for the Chinese as well because the problems are long term. While I am not criticizing China, seeing people wear face masks while biking to work or walking shows that there's an obvious problem with the air.

Anyway... I enjoyed being home. It's good to be back but I miss my family and friends.

Fresh produce

Sorry for the lack of updates: I've had plenty of observations in December but I've been home in the US for about 2 and a half weeks so I've been busy at home enjoying Mom's home cooking, the company of my family and friends, wireless internet, breathable air, and cable TV.

One of the things I do miss from China is the fresh fruit. There is this guy I'm friends with at a local fruit stand who sells the most delicious and juicy oranges. They aren't oranges because they don't have seeds, but they're too big to be clementines or mandarins, so maybe they are tangerines. Who knows! I can get about 10 of these palm sized oranges for about $1. Behind the fruit stand people play Mahjong. Although I don't know how to play (yet), four people play this game, but there are always other people watching the game in progress. When I bought some fruit from the vendor by myself one night, I asked him if I could watch him play. He was more than happy with my interest, so I told him when I return I will watch he and his friends play. I want to read the directions to mahjong so I don't feel like a total idiot. Maybe I'll even make a friend or two!

Back to fruits: I've also gotten a chance to try pomelo, which is less bitter than a grapefruit, but is about the size of my head (no joke!) It is yellow and has small clearish seeds in the middle. It peels off cleanly in sections that are about the length of your hand and the width of two or three fingers. I've also tried dragon fruit which looks as cool as it sounds. The outside is hard and bright pink. It has green spike shaped parts that look like they help you peel the fruit, but they actually aren't very sharp. Inside the fruit is actually a clear white color with lots of tiny black seeds which you eat with the fruit. It tastes sweet but it is a refreshing lightness in it's flavor. They're really fun to look at and also tasty as well.
The other type of fruit that intrigues me is called (I believe) sizi. I've tried looking it up on the internet but I've been unable to find an English name or a picture of it. The fruit looks to be the size of a tomato, but the lower part of it is squished bottom ridge. I will hopefully get a more accurate translation upon returning to China.

During the winter, pineapples and strawberries are in season in Shanghai. I'm psyched!