Pizza and Art

As part of our class this session, we're required to complete "excursion projects" that are meant to get us out and about in the city, rather than just being holed up in a classroom. I decided to do my excursion project on 798, a complex of art galleries in north-eastern-ish Beijing. The 798 galleries are fairly well known, and I had heard of them before and wanted to go visit. But contemporary art isn't really my thing, but I figured if I had to do a project on it, then I would be far more likely to actually go visit. And so, last Sunday, I dragged Kimberley, Louis, and Eddie along with me to the galleries.


798 (or in Chinese, 七八九) is so named after the street which runs through it, shockingly called 798 street. It's an old manufacturing complex, so many of the galleries are in old warehouses and buildings, which was really cool. The complex had a festival like feel - all the galleries had their doors open, and there where street musicians and jewelery makers selling things on the street. There were also quite a few small cafes scattered on corners, many of them selling Western food, which is where the first part of the title comes in. While I was off discovering the deeper meanings of pictures of bamboo burning, Kimberley, Louis, and Eddie had stopped and ordered french fries and pizza at a cafe. I met up with them just as the french fries arrived, and they were delicious (the cafe even had ketchup!). The pizza was equally delicious, but it didn't taste like pizza - just cheese bread with chicken and seasonings. I guess I feel kind of reluctant to eat Western food - after all, I can eat it all the time at home, so there's no reason to eat it here. As much as I can sometimes get tired of Chinese food, I guess I'm trying to keep the experience as realistic as possible.

The art itself was actually really interesting - I went there with a list of things to look for in the art, such as how Chinese traditional painting aspects were incorporated, whether it was a critique of the government, and if there was a disdain towards the new consumerism mentality China has shown. The most prevalent theme I found was a critique of urbanism and consumerism, such as the painting that depicted 'moments' in a life, such as getting married, with a picture of an Audi imposed on the scene. It was kind of random, but for the purposes of my presentation, it's a critique of consumerism. :) The best part of 798 was that it was free, only .40 RMB bus fare to get there. An excellent way to spend an afternoon in Beijing, if you're ever here.

And anecdotally, I also went to China fashion week. In the midst of trying to find where Kimberley had went, I turned a corner and found myself surrounded by a bunch of glamorous people wearing black with nametag credentials. Amidst the suits and insanely fashionable dresses, I felt a little out of place in my UChicago sweatshirt and jeans and quickly turned back around that corner, but now I can say I went to China Fashion Week! :)

Getting Cultured

Last Monday marked the beginning of our second class session, this one focusing on Chinese cosmology, science, medicine, and metaphysics (or lack there of). The class is somewhat hard to explain, although the differences in Chinese thought – just how they approached things- compared to the West is really interesting. So anyway, last Wednesday we had a class field trip to the opera “Madame White Snake”, which is based on an ancient Chinese fable (see separate post on the actual story). Apparently our professor knew the librettist who wrote the opera, so we ended up getting free tickets.

The tickets were divided into two blocks, one on the upper balcony and one on the main floor. In the random distribution of tickets, I lucked out and got Floor 1, Row 4, Seat 32! It was at that point I decided to be a perpetual study abroad student, because the perks here are way better than being on campus. (Field trips to different cities among them) We were four rows away from the stage, and when we (4 students, who ended up with the really good tickets) got there, there were coats in our seats. This lead to some worries abut whether we actually had tickets, but we went up and watched the musicians tune up while waiting to see what people came back to get their coats. Come to find out, it was the librettist and the producer who had set their coats in our seats, which was pretty cool, and they ended up moving two rows closer, and we enjoyed our fourth row seats.

It was the first time I had gone to an opera, and it was incredible! The stage composition and lighting was really cool, though you couldn't actually understand what they were singing. (They had subtitles in Chinese, but I couldn't read most of them). The opera was actually in English, and was produced by the Boston Opera. The music was gorgeous, too - it was a combination of Western and traditional Chinese music, and the love theme that resurfaced at various points was beautiful. The summary of the story is below, in case you want to share in my cultural enlightenment. ;)

The Story of Madame White Snake

A lady and her boyfriend die, and are transformed into demon-snakes. In order that they can spend all eternity together, they are both made female snakes, which kills the love thing but keeps them in each others company.

Fast forward a thousand years, when, after meditating for the past 1000 years, the white demon snake (the other is green), is transformed back into her female human form. The green snake, Xiao Qing, was a little bit ADD and is left somewhere between a green snake and a woman. (And the role was played by a male soprano – I didn't even know they had those -, so presumably the transformation to green snake was never complete, either, since Xiao Qing used to be the white snake's lover). So anyway. Madame White Snake is celebrating her human form, when a human guy, Xu Xian, sees her dancing and falls madly in love. Xiao Qing knows this is going to end in tears. It starts to rain, Xu Xian offers M.W.S. His umbrella, and she tells him to come to her house to pick it up. He does so, and she gives him some of her own special tea, the magical powers of which – if there are any – aren't covered in the opera. Shortly thereafter, he proposed marriage, and she agrees, on one condition – once a month, she and Xiao Qing will go away for one night, and he's not allowed to ask any questions. (They have to go shed their skin – remember, they're still demon-snakes on the inside). The poor guy is love struck, so he agrees.

They get married, and are living happily, when some friar shows up. He too has been meditating a thousand years on love (no transformation, though), and is one step away from nirvana. He seeks out Xu Xian and M.W.S, as their love is now legendary. When he first lays eyes on M.W.S, his thousand year knowledge instantly tells him she's a demon-snake, and that she is pregnant with a ½ human child, which is simply unacceptable. Friar and M.W.S get in a fight, where he talks about destroying the marriage to reach nirvana, and she says that the attempt will destroy her own nirvana, which was a section that was really well written (and raises the question – is nirvana something we work towards, or something we create?). The friar creates questions in Xu Xian mind about where his wife goes, questions that are solidified when M.W.S tell him that she is pregnant, and poor Xu Xian isn't sure who the father is. The friar gives him a potion which will reduce M.W.S to her true form, and Xu Xian betrays his wife and gives it to her, and she becomes a snake again. Her tears of sorrow over the betrayal and the loss of her nirvana ultimately drown the village and everyone living there, leaving only Xiao Qing to tell the audience the sad story.