One of the most beautiful shows I have seen in China is the Liu Sanjie water, light and music show in Yangshuo. Yangshuo is a quaint little town about 1-1/2 hours from Guilin, in Guangxi Province. The town is the endpoint of the Li River cruise. I like to take cruise in the morning, arrive in Yangshuo in the afternoon, stay through dinner and catch the show in the evening.
The Liu Sanjie show is a spectacle of light and music. It takes place on the water and there are no bad seats. The only suggestion I have is to bring a zoom lens for a camera in order to get close-up views of the singers and dancers.
Liu Sanjie is the name of a young woman in folklore. Liu is the woman's last name; last names are listed first in Chinese, out of respect for the family name. "San" means "three" in Chinese and "jie" means "sister." Therefore Sanjie refers to the young woman's place in her family: the third born daughter of Mr. Liu. In Chinese families, children are often referred to by their place in the family, not their given name. The younger sister in the family will be called "meimei" which means "little sister." Meimei is not her name, but that is the name to which she is referred.
The "Liu Sanjie" story goes like this: Liu Sanjie is a legendary woman from the Zhuang ethnic minority. Her voice is fabled to be so spectacularly beautiful that she is also called the Song Fairy. As is customary in Zhuang traditions, Liu Sanjie gives an embroidered ball to the boy she likes, named A Niu. He then throws the ball across the river and onto a rock, high on a mountain, as a symbol of their everlasting love. That is basically the gist of this story, two farm villagers falling in love.
Despite the relatively boring nature of the story, it is a fantastic performance that is highly new and unusual to the western eye.
The Liu Sanjie show is a spectacle of light and music. It takes place on the water and there are no bad seats. The only suggestion I have is to bring a zoom lens for a camera in order to get close-up views of the singers and dancers.
Liu Sanjie is the name of a young woman in folklore. Liu is the woman's last name; last names are listed first in Chinese, out of respect for the family name. "San" means "three" in Chinese and "jie" means "sister." Therefore Sanjie refers to the young woman's place in her family: the third born daughter of Mr. Liu. In Chinese families, children are often referred to by their place in the family, not their given name. The younger sister in the family will be called "meimei" which means "little sister." Meimei is not her name, but that is the name to which she is referred.
The "Liu Sanjie" story goes like this: Liu Sanjie is a legendary woman from the Zhuang ethnic minority. Her voice is fabled to be so spectacularly beautiful that she is also called the Song Fairy. As is customary in Zhuang traditions, Liu Sanjie gives an embroidered ball to the boy she likes, named A Niu. He then throws the ball across the river and onto a rock, high on a mountain, as a symbol of their everlasting love. That is basically the gist of this story, two farm villagers falling in love.
Despite the relatively boring nature of the story, it is a fantastic performance that is highly new and unusual to the western eye.
RSS Feed