The Wandering Monkey

A trip to the Chinese Opera.

I just got back from a Chinese opera house. I did not see the whole performance, just a few minutes of it. Just as well, since it was in Chinese and I could not follow it anyhow. But it was pretty cool to see.

I was there to talk to the General Manager of the opera. He was a friend of a Chinese lawyer here, who is a friend of one of my friends. We were talking about getting the appropriate Chinese cultural permits to have a swing dance band from America come to tour in Shanghai. As with everything in China (and perhaps everywhere), you just need to know the right people.

It was rather enjoyable, this meeting. I got to visit the opera house and go behind the stage while they were performing. We met in the VIP room, and started our negotiations there, to take them to another room later. I showed them the pictures of the US band and also showed them video of our dancers. I also gave him swing dance music CD's so he could listen. I also explained that people have swing dancing around the world, and that we are trying to bring it to China.

Pretty much then and there he agreed in principle to having a show. He said we should begin our process of logistics, and that was pretty much it. In details, they will handle the marketing. I don't think we want to even try to do that ourselves. And the theatre itself can hold almost 1000 people, so there would be a good potential audience. They regularly hold jazz band performances there, so I think this will be successful.

In more domestic news, my roommate said the power is off at our apartment. The a/c works but nothing else. And, my date for the evening cancelled due to long hours at work. Can't blame her for that. Oh yes, her. She's interesting to me. I find her quite attractive. Half Mongolian and half Russian, she speaks no English at all. Just about as much English as I speak Chinese. So we hang out in the park, point to things, and she tells me the Chinese name and I tell her the English name. I've learned more this way than any other way so far, and it's much more enjoyable.

So far it's just holding hands and walking about the park. She is, I think, a traditional Chinese girl, which is fine because I'm getting rather sick of the bar-savvy girls you run into here all too often.

Lately I've been a bit tired. I need to take more care of my eating and sleeping. Plus, the summer is here and the daytime heat and humidity is just an energy drain. I'm finding my bar-hopping experiences less enjoyable lately. This is probably just as well.

My friend from England is almost definitely going back. That's probably just as well, too. He has not had a regular job since he arrived, and he's more into dating than looking for work. Plus, every time we go out together he steals all the girls, so if he leaves there will be less competition!

All for now. I'm probably going to play some computer games and head back home. Tomorrow is dance class and I want to be fresh.
Peace,
-J