Once in a while, you find yourself gobsmacked by a totally unsuspecting cultural experience. When James Wallace, a Nashville-based musician who I met in Beijing way-back-when, invited me to a concert he was playing in, I was more than happy to drop by and see an old friend. What I didn’t expect was an astonishing show combining traditional Chinese and Mongolian instruments with some of the finest bluegrass and Americana on either side of the Pacific.
The headliner was Abigail Washburn, an amazing artists who’s made the world hear just how sweet Chinese bluegrass can sound. Abigail plays a range of instruments and carries songs in such a strong, smoky voice in both Chinese and English. What’s most incredible, though, is not her considerable musical talent, but her ear for bringing together seemingly incompatible sounds to create an unexpected fusion of Chinese and American musical traditions. When a Chinese musician went to town on the pipa, I realized for the first time that this instrument (that I’d formerly thought of as just vaguely whiney) sounds like the fiercest, most badass banjo in town.
Charmed as we were by Abigail, James, and conspirator Kai Welch’s renditions of old American fare with some Chinese instrumental interludes, I was totally blown away by the introduction of the Mongolian rock bang, Hanggai. I know: Mongolian. Rock. Band. We were skeptical, but it was rad, you guys. They wore fantastically pointy hats and with instruments with such names as the “horse head fiddle” and “Tobshuur,” as well as electric guitars, bass, and drums, totally rock on with their frocks on. (Observe frocks below.) The whole company brought the house down with Mongolian and American drinking songs–they were clearly having a great time.
What I found so inspiring about the whole show was not just the obvious skill of the musicians, but the enthusiasm they showed for doing something new, something innovative, something beloved. I’m no musician (apart from my unfortunately well-documented bongo skillz…Black Yak Band, you were all there in my heart) and no informed connoisseur, but I know when I’ve seen an amazing show and I left the concert feeling good about life. I feel like seeking out these experiences–those that leave you feeling colorful and energized and even nostalgic–is especially important in Beijing, where life can fall into grayness or sameness quite unexpectedly, and this show was enough to inspire ridiculous cliches about art and inspiration and how, at the end of the day, a banjo and a pipa and a Chinese song and an American song can do the trick to make life that much better.
This entry was written by , posted on December 19, 2009 at 10:03 pm, filed under adventures, art, beijing and tagged abigail washburn, beijing, hanggai, music, yugong yishan. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I have been a total delinquent blogger of late and would like to extend my apologies to my vast and devoted reader-base (or not! Hi Dad.) Between having the lovely and talented Miss. Erin Child as my guest here in beautiful, breezy Beijing (again: not! It’s like 1997 up in here.) and trying to tie up loose ends before I kick it over to the America for holiday time, I have been a neglecting this here blog. Fear not, intrepid reader! Having a guest visit Beijing (and most places, for that matter) opens your eyes to all the cool things you overlook on the day to day or lose in the smog.
In any case, Erin’s visit has allowed me the chance to visit and revisit a lot of touristy places, a lot of dumpling restaurants, but also a lot of amazing Beijing places that have been hovering somewhere outside of my radar.
While meandering through hutongs near Gulou, Erin and I stumbled across Fangjia Hutong, or Fangjia 46. A lot of people are calling this little oasis of art galleries, cafes, art stores, and a jazz club (or in Chinese terms, “a creative neighborhood”) in the midst of a Gulou Hutong “the new 798.” Now, I feel like that’s neither true nor necessarily a good thing, but Fangjia 46 has an unmistakable charm and calm that could certainly propel it status as Beijing’s next big little art area. The few galleries didn’t have shows up, but seemed to host studios and exhibition spaces with definite potential. There’s also a great theater in Fangjia 46 that’s apparently hosted some amazing dance and theater and may soon also show…film screenings? Eh?
Ever since I got to Beijing, all of my Chinese friends have been advising me vehemently to go the zoo. I mean, I like baby pandas as much as the next person, but I didn’t really feel that compelled to trek all the way across Beijing in winter to see giraffes and whatever. Much to my surprise, most of these friends (who are, incidentally, mostly female and in their 20s) were not talking about the ZOO Zoo with, like, animals, but rather the 动物园 Market–the Chinese discount clothing market across the street from the Beijing Zoo. Call me a heartless capitalist: I like pandas, but I REALLY like ridiculous Chinese clothes.
The Zoo Market (which is, of course, located above a bus depot) is a shocking Mecca of absurd Chinese fashion. Pleated leather miniskirts! Literally–LITERALLY the world’s largest concentration of bejeweled sweater-vests. But all that was only of passing fancy to Erin and I–we were after the Chinglish t-shirts.
Long story short, we limited our purchases to t-shirts adorned with pictures of small houses and the inexplicable phrase “CAT POWER WILL NEVER STOP.” (Perfect for: encouraging the prowess of certain cats or Cats, or really, really long Cat Power concerts.) I also got a sweatshirt with the word BOHEMIANS splashed across a face in lieu of a nose.
Oh Beijing. You’ve done it again.
We’ve also had some slightly more standard Beijing adventures: Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, etc. We have learned that Ming Dynasty architecture is nothing if not consistent and that no where is too cold, too boring, or too far if you’re with your 好朋友。
This entry was written by , posted on December 13, 2009 at 3:09 am, filed under Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
拜访
BAI FANG
VISIT
Use it in a sentence: Erin明天来北京拜访我！ Erin is coming to Beijing tomorrow to visit me!
WOW. I hope this town looks good in red*, because that’s the color we’re going to paint it.
*It does. I mean, really.
This entry was written by , posted on December 1, 2009 at 3:08 am, filed under Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.