Entertainment in China

Ok, so one other thing we did while we were there is take in a couple shows.  And I was so excited, too.  I mean, this is the land of the super-flexible and talented artists of the Shanghai Circus.  The land of kung fu.

I mean, we were in for some real treats, right?

I didn't mention this during the post on the bus shopping, but one of the things our tour guide told us was that the Chinese government puts its best face forward to the world, selling the finest products that they make on the world market, and keeping the B grade stuff for the Chinese people.

I actually think this applies to the entertainment as well.  As entertained as I am by the Chinese performers I've seen in the states, I wasn't that impressed by the shows we saw.  Permit me to explain.

The first production we went to was the Kung Fu Panda show.  It was at a school for Kung Fu, and I think we were kind of watching their equivalent to a recital.  It wasn't typical recital bad, but it was super cheesy, and many of the performers were kids that were clearly getting better at their craft.  The story had something to do with Mr. Panda doing Kung Fu and trying to get up all in Mrs. Panda's fur. Or something.

It's so funny.  I didn't feel like finding out the name of the place where the Kung Fu Panda show was, but I realized I had a picture.  So yeah.  That place.

This sign showed the English translation of what was going on.  It was as Engrish as the rest of the signs in Beijing.

Well, that was Beijing's show.  On our last night, we got to go to a circus in Shanghai.  Having seen the Shanghai Circus at the Paramount a couple times, I was pretty excited.  I like that kind of Cirque du Soleil stuff.

Except again, I think the export was better.  The feller who was juggling the large vases kept dropping them, and more than once we caught other mistakes by the performers.  If it had been the first show of that type I'd seen, long before Cirque du Soleil, I might have really enjoyed it.

It was exciting, though when they dd the motorcycles in the murder-sphere-of-death bit.  They did that really well.

Either way, I wasn't that impressed by the Chinese performances I'd seen.  Like a tiger mom, I expected Asian perfection, but I think we got b-grade performances.  Could have just been the tour too.  Dunno, but I was far more impressed by the historical sights, the shopping, and the food than I was the entertainment.