I was very interested in going to the Chinese opera - you hear so much about it! So, when we had an opportunity to have a wonderful Beijing duck dinner followed by the opera, I was thrilled.

The dinner was pretty good, but I was a little concerned when we were seated in what seemed a community theater setting. You could see the instrumentalists, barely hidden by the stage current, tuning up.

I should not have worried. The costumes and makeup were amazing and the athleticism of the performers was thrilling. It was a little bit like watching a kung fu movie - everything was carefully choreographed and rehearsed. The accompanying music was distinctly Chinese, and fit the action on stage perfectly.

They performed three "mini" operas for us - the Hall of the Dragon King, a Fight in the Dark, and the Flower Princess. The Hall of the Dragon King was a story of how the monkey king (top picture) came to the hall of the dragon king (guy with long feathers in second picture above) looking for a suitable weapon. He tries all the weapons in the hall, and finally settles on a magic needle. This is the dragon king's favorite thing, so he doesn't really want to give it to the monkey king. A fight ensues with the monkey king showing his clever moves as he outsmarts and out fights all of the dragon kings sons and minions.

The fight in the dark (pictured directly above) tells the story of an innkeeper and guest who each think the other is an intruder because it is very dark in the inn. They duck and dodge and nearly miss each other over and over. Very entertaining!

The final opera was more traditional. It depicted a fairy that was sent to drop flower petals on earth. This is the only opera that had singing - and I have to say that this particular type of singing would be an acquired taste! But then again, most European opera is an acquired taste too. The performer danced with long beautiful strips of multi-colored silk. Lovely!

After speaking to our guide, I understand that these operas were considerably shorter than traditional Chinese opera. Apparently, traditional performances can go on for many hours. In addition, the language used in the operas is an older dialect, not readily understood by many younger Chinese people.

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