Vacation
So, last time I told you I was on vacation. It was during the Mid-Autumn Festival (or Moon Festival), when people get together with their families and celebrate the moon. We eat moon cakes (in Mexico, people would eat Bread of the Dead during the Day of the Dead).
You can see a photo here, they’re delicious! There are many versions. Usually, they have red bean paste inside; it’s sweet (believe it or not). But I preferred the ones with different nuts inside.
The Beijing Opera
My friends and I decided to go to the opera. The Beijing Opera is very well known and famous around the world for representing a particular art form that is distinct from European opera. We had a lot of fun. My favorite parts were the dances, but the costumes were also magnificent. Many parts were spoken, but most were sung.
One detail that really struck me at the opera was the long sleeves worn by the main characters. They were used to show their emotions and state of mind, but they kept falling down. It was very funny to see them pull their sleeves up jerkily and very frequently, even though it was part of their performance. You can see lots of photos and videos taken by one of my friends who was there.
Honor and Humility
The story told in the play was a moral tale, emphasizing generosity, humility, and sharing.
In a nutshell: a young girl from a wealthy family was to be married on the same day as a young girl from a poor family. Because of the rain, they took shelter under the same roof. After getting to know each other, the rich girl made a generous gesture towards the poor girl. Their paths separated and they lost touch with each other.
Six years later, both of their marriages were going very well. They both had a son and were living happily.
But one day, during heavy rain and flooding, the rich woman got lost and thought her whole family had disappeared. She then finds help and begins working as a tutor for a young boy. Due to circumstances, she realizes that the family she is working for is actually the one she had helped in the past.
Later, she finds her own family, who have lost all their wealth due to the flood. Finally, her family is taken in by the one she had helped before.
Traditions
On the day of the full moon, we went to dinner at a very chic and very expensive restaurant for the country, with gardens featuring fountains. The walls were decorated with poems and classical calligraphy, watercolors… And all the employees wore traditional costumes. We were treated very specially and had a wonderful time, which was also very traditional.
Here are some photos taken by my friend and me (don’t pay too much attention to our enthusiasm in the videos). The meal was delicious, the view was sublime, and I am a big fan of classical Chinese architecture.
I think I had an unforgettable vacation with my friends. Learning about the culture and discovering the arts motivates me a lot to work on my Chinese. Now that midterm exams are coming up, I’m more motivated than ever to study hard!
Bisous ~
Apart from that, I’ve taken up swimming, and I play chess frequently with my friends. But it’s about time I learned how to play Chinese chess. I ordered a board online, and I’ll let you know when I’ve finally learned how to play (or when I’ve finally won a game)!
Comments
2 responses
The restaurant video LMFAO!! You are excited and want to express it in Chinese, but it turned into some noises LOL
It’s truly fascinating how they keep their traditional culture in modernization.
By the way, my Vietnamese groupmate brought us moon cakes. There were different types, one was similar to the picture you posted, and the others were made with rice, like mochi. I prefer the rice-based one. Give it a try if you haven’t tried it yet!
Yesss, I was speechless during the performances! Oh I have not tried any vietnamese moon cake, that’s getting on my list! How are you? How are you liking the Netherlands?
Thanks for dropping by^^