Culture and pies

Today was an offensively hot day. I decided to keep physical exertion to a minimum and embrace some traditions and culture of Suzhou. First, I went to the museum for Kun Qu Opera. (昆曲 Kūnqǔ). Unfortunately there wasn't a performance there today.

After looking around the museum, I followed the dangerous smell of fried goodness wafting around the streets and ended up at a small cafe. It was too tempting to miss this opportunity. The waiter explained to me it was a Chinese pie.

I feel the word "pie" is used too liberally in China. I hadn't realised I feel so strongly about pies. It shouldn't bother me, but describing a pancake-type food as a pie only sets me up for a distressing disappointment. Luckily, I had already learned about the pie/pancake issue on a previous and equally harrowing occasion. I was prepared for it to be a non-pie. It seems to be a nationwide issue.

Frankly, I don't feel this photograph truly represents how flat and pancake-like they were.

Anyway, the uncomfortable heat reduced my anger and ability to care about the misuse of the word "pie". I resigned myself to ordering the Chinese pie and sitting quietly next to the air conditioner. This is a battle for another, much cooler day. As it goes, the pie was of the fried (like a pancake) vegetable variety and quite nice.

Following the snack, I stumbled around Suzhou like a sweaty, feral woodland creature, cooling down momentarily with an ice cream until I found another museum.

At the Ping Tan (评弹píng tán) museum, I was happy to discover I could watch a show. Ping Tan includes ballad singing and storytelling.

With a front row seat, I watched a rather long performance of a man telling a story (or stories?). He spoke in the old Suzhou dialect so I understood very little, although I could appreciate the enthusiasm, emotion and expressions in his performance. It turns out that some of the Chinese members of the audience couldn't understand it all either, so I felt a little better.

I sincerely hoped that the performer would launch his teacup at members of the audience who rudely chatted on their phones during the show. But he carried on regardless.

The man had a talent for sound effects, which I'm sure enhanced the story. There were titters from the audience at certain points, but the biggest reaction occurred when he began shrieking into the microphones like a wailing banshee (prompting the man next to me to wake up). I resisted the urge to cover my ears and instead joined in with the applause. Due to the length of the show, my mind began to wander a little towards the end. I started to imagine what he was so animated about. Could it be that he shared my passion about incorrectly named pancakes? 

It was certainly an interesting show and when coupled with drinking fragrant tea, surely met my culture quota for this part of the trip. After the almost-two hour show, I walked back to the hotel and stopped at a small restaurant where I ate stir fried beef and rice.

Even though I have only spent two days in Suzhou, I can appreciate the slower pace of life here. It's only a half hour journey from Shanghai, so I would definitely recommend a visit to Suzhou.

Hôm nay trời thật nóng (>﹏<)

Hiểu được văn hóa của người khác rất là quan trọng.
Chiều nay tôi xem một biểu diễn. Buổi biểu diễn rất thú vị. Ngôi sao của biểu diễn này đã kể cho chúng tôi những câu chuyện hấp dẫn.

Buổi biểu diễn của ông ấy thật tuyệt vời. Tôi nghe ông ấy sử dụng rất nhiều âm thanh diễn cảm và thể hiện nhiều cảm xúc khác nhau, nhưng mà tôi đã không hiểu những gì ông ta đã nói =))

Sau đó tôi ăn cơm rang với thịt bò xào.
Ngày mai, tôi sẽ đi... Hà Nội (*^﹏^*)