Two shows for the price of one

I returned to Shanghai for a couple of days (Feb 6^th-Feb 9^th). As I already mentioned, I was surprised that the fireworks were still going off, but apparently the Sunday after CNY is another big night for fireworks. I tried to set up a Skype call with my mom to let her know that I survived the festival, but we couldn't hear each other because of the explosions outside of my bedroom were too loud.

Laura and I made it a point to go to the Beijing Opera while we were in China, so we got tickets to see Peking Opera Highlights by Tianjin Municipal Youth Peking Opera Troupe at YiFu Theatre. Here is a summary (I think) of the show from the website:

《钟馗嫁妹》相传，唐朝终南山进士钟馗与同乡杜平去京都赴试，钟因面貌丑陋，得不到皇帝重视而落第，他一怒碰死在后宰门外，天帝封他为斩崇之 神。钟馗生前曾经有约，把妹妹嫁给杜平，死后，他为践约和答谢杜平的友情，在一个月白清风的夜里，带着一群顽皮的小鬼回家，完成了嫁妹的心愿。

　　《陈三两爬堂》妓女陈三两义助陈奎攻读。陈奎进京赴试，鸨儿将陈三两卖与富户，三两不从。富户向里正行贿，反把三两送上公堂审迅。知州李凤 鸣受贿，审讯三两。三两申辩，陈述身世，李使知三两乃失散多年的胞姐李淑萍。恰此时新任巡按陈奎将至，李羞惧交加，向三两谢罪，三两怒责之。陈奎至，将李 凤鸣治罪。

We were just as clueless as most of you, and Google translator was not helpful. However, I was still very entertained. I felt like I was watching two shows at the same time. First, I was observing the show on stage without understanding what was said or sung. At first, the show was very visual and active. No translation was necessary. Some of the actors were performing impressive acrobatics. The colors of masks in the opera have significance, but we didn’t do our research ahead of time. The end of the show was less active, so I tried to associate the words with the characters written on both sides of the stage. I was excited when I recognized the characters for 1, 2 and 3!

The second show I watched was audience itself. Here you are allowed to bring food and drink. You are also allowed to take photos, but no flash. Therefore, some people brought in big professional cameras with long lenses. During the show, people slowly moved to seats closer to the stage. They also verbally cheered on the actors. The very second the curtains closed at the end of the performance, everyone crowded at front of the stage and applauded. The main female singer then sang an encore. I never knew you could get one at the end of an opera.