Nanjing Celebrities

Today begafn with a bit of a slow start. Max took Gordon to the bank to take out cash and George and I watched the begining of kick-ass. When we were all finally ready to start the day after showers and little errands we had lunch with Max's dad and friends from work. This was really nice because we got to meet Max's dads best friends and they treated us to a very nice lunch in a 4 star hotel. The meal was delicious and we once again expanded our pallets by trying pigeon, which turned out to be baby George's new favorite dish. Another dish we were able to eat was a roast pork famous for being the way Mao's favorite. Max told us that one time when the nation was in a repression Mao told the people that because the country was so poor he was not going to treat himself to his favorite pork, and because Mao wasn't doing that, all the people of China did not eat that pork until Mao did again. The lunch was great and we learned a chinese tradition that when you make a toast you are supposed to stand and finish your drink with the people toasting. This was exciting because we were drinking beer and Max's dads friends were really excited to meet us so there were lots of toasts.


After lunch we decided to do a little shopping. We went back to all the stores we had picked out the day before and bought some of the gifts and souveniers we planned on bringing back to the states. This also made for another day of walking around 5 miles total. This walk was nice and the exchange rate makes for many things worth buying. Walking around from about 12-5 in combination with the still overwhelming jet lag made for Gordon George and I to be dead tired right when it was time to go to dinner. Completely worn out we all passed out in the car ride on the way to dinner by the river in Nanjing. This dinner was really nice because it was smaller and more subtle but still really special. It was nice and quant because it was just the 4 of us and Max's parents. The cool part about dinner was that Max's mom worked out reservations with some of her government friends so we ate in a private room in a very nice restaurant looking right out over the oldest main river in the city called the qinghuai river. As we were being served our appetizers and main course there were women playing very traditional chinese music for the table. The first musician played a chinese guitar that sounded exactly like the stereotypical ancient chinese music and the following musician for the main course played a bamboo flute that is usually known as the chinese flute. The food was very good but we were all tired and worn out from a long day of walking. The restaurant his parents chose for us was one of the most famous of all of Nanjing and they said that any celebrity, even Obama, that comes to Nanjing would be eating that same meal that we were.


After dinner we walked around the river area and Max explained how this was the biggest tourist attraction of Nanjing because the river was very popular long ago. Nanjing actually used to be the capital of China before the communist party of China took over and moved the capital to Beijing. When Nanjing was the capital the emperor and many other important people would all come to the river and eat in these fancy restaurants as well as see shows performed on the river. When we finished eating we were able to have a private boat tour of the river that included one of those famous shows. Becuase Max's mom pulled her government strings the other chinese people were crammed into boats while we were sitting comfortably in a private boat drinking tea and listening to our private harp player. The river was beautiful with flowers along the banks and lights everywhere. The buildings were all lit up like las vegas and the boats were lit like floating christmas trees.


During the boat ride we stopped when the sun went down at this theatre on the river. This was really cool because there was a crowd with lots of seating where we sat in a roped off VIP area and we were even the top of the VIP's as we got front row seats with not even another person within two rows. Then directly in front of us was about 50 yards of river bank with penninsula stage and giant screen behind the water. As well as getting the best seats in the house, it was like they waited for us to start because everything was timed so perfect. As soon as we finished dinner the boat was ready and waiting, as soon as we took the boat to the middle of the river the show was about the start. So as soon as we took our seats and had a chance to look around the sun was setting and the show began.


The show was amazing. It was a traditional chinese performance that was something similar to what the emperor might have seen hundreds of years ago. There were singers and dancers and it seemed like our own little private olympic opening ceremony. The show told a story of chinese traditions with a love story, and poets, and dancing waiters, and even the arrival of the emperor. It was really cool to see the traditional chinese dress with lots of silk and bright colors along with some martial arts dancing and flips. There was ballet during the love story and crazy dragons like you see on TV with the people underneath waving the kite like dragons. The water in front of the stage made the show really cool because they had people on the boats that would float in front of the dancers while singing or waving to the crowd. The boats would drive back and forth letting actors on and off the stage and between each act the giant screen would give little details about the cities history of the river. In one of the last acts of the show these two people in bright gold silk dresses were escorted from the stage like royalty and Max told us that those people represented the emperor and empress. The two people then got on one of the boats and floated over to dock right in front of the crowd. When the boat docked a man and a few of the escorts got off the boat and walked up to the crowd throwing little gifts into the crowd as little asian kids scrampled next to our roaped off area to get closer to the emperor and empress. The man that got off the boat then called a girl out of the crowd and asked her a question about the history of the city like a game show host. When the girl got the question correct he gave her a big prize of nice liquor and the crowd gave her a nice applause. She then went into the crowd and the man began to speak again this time staring straight at me. I had no idea what he was saying and was hoping to God he was actually looking at Max who was sitting next to me. But of course he was calling on the next contestant on his chinese history game, the one of 3 people in the crowd who had no clue as to what he was saying. So Max insisted I stand up and go while he sat in his chair with too much distance to translate anything the man was saying to me. I stood in front of about 100 chinese people not knowing anything that was being said to me being expected to answer a question about the history of China when first of all I could never know the question, and second of all I could never communicate an answer if I knew. But the man proceeded with the show and managed to ask me in English the few words he knew, "Do you speak Chinese?" To my reply with a mic shoved in my face, "umm no." Then followed a bunch of gibberish that I couldn't understand and a loud burst of laughter from the crowd. He then managed to get out the words "then you just repeat after me. Okay?" to my, with the mic again shoved in my face, "okay." Now the next parts I couldn't repeat again if my life depended on it because I couldn't even repeat him a first time. The phrases he expected me to repeat were not mere one word answers, He expected me to repeat paragraphs of ancient text about the history of China. It would be like me asking you to repeat word for word this entire paragraph you have just read, it aint gonna happen. So I did my best to repeat as much as I could and guess at the rest and the crowd loved it and laughed and the guy quizzing me seemed to agree with the crowd. I was so nervous because I didn't know what was going on or what I was doing and saying, but the guy ended up dressing me up in one of the silk outfits and giving me a crazy hat. Max later told me that the character they were dressing me as was a very special person who was chosen once a year in all of China as the smartest person in the country to be able to meet the emperor and the empress. Then Max George and Gordon came with me onto the boat and we became part of the show. It was really bizarre and a very lucky accident to be pulled out of the crowd but I also got the prize of nice liquor and even got to ride on the boat with the emperor and empress. We rode around the back of the stage on the boat with the assistants, game show host, emperor, and empress and Max was able to translate for me this time where the game show host and one of the assistants were very nice and talked about how we knew each other and where we were from. We got them to take a few pictures and they then dropped us off just to the side of where we were sitting before. And even though I was off the boat and off the stage it took a while for me nerves to settle. That little ride was a once in a lifetime event even for the people of Nanjing. There were tons of little chinese kids and just as many other chinese people shoving at the ropes to be chosen by this guy and I was the lucky paleface he thought would make a good show. By the time we got back and in our seats the finale to the show was starting and I was still in awe. I thought the show itself was great but to be pulled into it was incredible.


After the show we had a nice boat ride around the rest of the river in our private boat again where we talked about what had just happened and let it really sink in. The river was gorgeous at night and we saw some really cool sculpture and carvings along with some walls that were over hundreds of years old that set out the city limits, literally the city walls. We then made our way back to the car and eventually back to Max's apartment even more exhausted and amazed. Once again I have no idea what to expect for tomorrow.


Marty