After dinner today all bar 1 of us (Foghorn of course) joined the optional excursion to the Sanjie Liu Impression's Show, which wasn't the Chinese equivalent of Jon Culshaw and Alistair McGowan but an outdoor night show beside the Li River.
The show’s chief director is Zhang Yimou who also directed the 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony
and it creatively combines the classical Liu Sanjie’s folk songs and ethnic
group culture together and presents a large-scale realistic performance in harmony
with landscape. Liu Sanjie was a female
singer who allegedly lived about 1,000 years ago and tales of her voice and
songs have become part of folklore. There
are 600 actors and actresses involved and most of them are fishermen from the
villages along the river.
The mist, moonlight, together with 12 Karsts peaks and their inverted reflections in the river all create a spectacular natural backdrop. The large-scaled lights system, special smoke-effect system and the overwhelming sound system in harmony with the natural landscape presents a visual feast to audiences.
Mmmm that was a really good description; I rather wish I’d read it before we went as I might have had a vague idea of what was going on.
No comment necessary.
Also on the site was a temple complex which I presume was a reconstruction.
The wooden tower was quite amazing but I probably should have lain down on the floor to get it symmetrical.
The outdoor auditorium was huge.
But unfortunately didn't have a dress code.
The show lasted approximately 70 minutes and consisted of 7 episodes: the Prelude, Red Impression, Green Impression, Golden Impression, Blue Impression, Silvery Impression and the Epilogue. Each episode displays different images and sceneries with the ever-changing natural background and lighting. Unfortunately the photos are pretty rubbish; we didn't have very good seats plus many in the audience held their phones up high throughout the performance.
