Sichuan opera

I forgot to mention this in my last posting. The night we arrived in Chengdu we decided to see a Sichuan opera performance. It was fantastic!! A little bit of opera/drama, some classical Chinese music, a bit of magic and acrobatics too. A lot like a variety show. We were both pretty sleepy and started to nod off a little during one of the musical pieces, but woke up again for the showcase "Blowing fire and changing faces" performance. There were five or six performers dressed in Chinese costum and wearing painted masks. Two of them blew fire and the rest "changed faces"; they danced around the stage and changed their masks in a split second. I'm not sure how it works, but it looked like the masks might be fabric... maybe the rolled up under their wigs?? I'm really not sure but it was amazing the see. Oh, and there was also a marionette that blew fire and changed faces! Crazy. One other piece that I found interesting was a guy who specialised in shadow puppets. Very worth the "late" night.

Oh - once again, our official tour ride to the show was a guy in a minivan that drove like a maniac.