vailian

We have returned safely from China... I would have loved to have written daily blogs about the experience, but sadly blog sites are blocked by the Chinese authorities (as is the BBC and many other western news sites). YouTube is available, but will be blocked in the next month or so.
I loved the country and am desperate to go back. Am thinking of trying to learn Chinese.
China is a huge country (DUH!) and I had no previous knowledge about it. Just that it was big. Now of course I know a lot more, you can learn a lot in a week!
The tour was a success, but in ways we didn't quite expect. The halls were fairly full, and everyone was appreciative; on the other hand we could see that Western classical music is still a novelty and concert etiquette is not always observed there. Especially in Peking (Beijing) people were talking during the concert, mobile phones were ringing, every couple of minutes people were taking flash pictures. Applause was limited and slightly uncertain... until we got to our last encores, which were arrangements of Chinese folktunes. Especially our last encore, "Jasmine Flower": we only had to play the first four notes and the audience would roar with astonishment and pleasure.
The rest of the program though was evidently unfamiliar, although we stayed at the very center of the repertoire (Brahms 2nd symphony, Stravinsky Firebird, Strauss waltzes).
The hotels were excellent, especially in Shanghai and Canton.
The food was amazing. Even though I have no idea what we were eating most of the time. Strange thing about Chinese food: it usually tastes completely different than what you expect when you see it on your plate. I tried to be brave and ate at least some of everything we were offered (and they often tried to serve us "Western" dishes, with varying degrees of success). I liked the pigs' intestines and the Squid Slices. Didn't try the snake but was told it was excellent.