Today was somewhat similar to yesterday, except that we had to travel much further to get to another school, Sichuan University. That meant similar logistical challenges to yesterday, except that we had to bring everything we’d need for the whole day. It was also an early morning after a late night – and did I mention the heat? It’s been in the nineties and getting hotter every day. Nevertheless, these kids have managed to be where they need to be each morning, with multiple sets of clothing, instruments, music stands, music, stand lights, and all their other gear. As far as I know, no one has forgotten anything critical. It’s pretty impressive to see.

When we reached our destination, we were first greeted by the university’s Chinese dance groups, who put on a performance for us. It was a lovely set of Chinese folk dances, and the kids responded enthusiastically — clearly remembering what a nice reception they’d received from their Chinese audiences. Afterwards they asked us to perform something, and the kids were able to muster up a couple of a capella performances since they didn’t have their instruments with them. This was followed by the usual selfie session.

Then it was our group’s turn to perform, in a similar outdoor venue to yesterday. They had timed our concert for noon outside the student cafeteria, so there was quite a crowd. The kids managed another great, high-energy performance despite the oppressive heat. The chaperones mostly just huddled in the shade on the edge of the square.

For lunch we went to a restaurant and had the usual lazy-Susan feast of a huge number of local specialties. We continue to be unable to make a dent in the food, even the adult table where most people are actually eating. Many of the kids seem to be subsisting entirely on white rice supplemented with ice cream purchased during outings.

This afternoon was a treat. We knew only that we were headed to “Huanglongxi Ancient Town”. On the way the bus stopped and picked up several young women. It turned out that they were English students at the university, and had been recruited to shepherd our various groups around. “Naomi” and “Catherine” joined our group and we set out to explore the town. (All the guides here use English names, that they chose in English class, just like we do in our foreign language classes.) It was absolutely beautiful, with traditional Chinese architecture, amazing landscaping, a winding stream crisscrossed by bridges and stepping stones, and picturesque shops.

Selfie with Old Time Photo guy

I should say here that shopping in China has been far more pleasant than shopping in some other foreign locations we’ve been. While haggling is customary, the sales people are non-aggressive and mostly friendly (though very few speak English). Maybe it’s because foreign tourism here is still fairly unusual and these locations mostly cater to Chinese tourists, but we don’t feel like we’re walking around with big dollar signs on our foreheads. When people in the shops or in the roads smile and wave to us, they aren’t trying to sell us anything — they are

Weirdly, you could bottle-feed the fish here.

just delighted at the novelty of seeing a bunch of Westerners filing through their streets. This particular place had a kind of Chinese version of “old time photo”, where you could dress up in traditional Chinese costume and get your picture taken. A young man in full Chinese dress approached us in the crowd and asked (through our guides) to take our picture, and we immediately thought he was going to ask for money — but instead he just beamed at us, pulled out his cell phone, and posed for selfie with the girls before thanking us and going back in to work. (Anytime we stopped to take a group photo with our chaperone group, all the locals around us would pull out their cameras as well. We do wonder what they do with all these random photos.)

Anyway, it was a really pleasant place to shop, with stores selling tourist souvenirs interspersed with shops selling Chinese produce, spices, and snacks. Zoe and I usually are not too enthusiastic about shopping stops, but this was one of my favorite places we visited. Naomi bought us some traditional candy from the region (which was something like — and also totally unlike — cotton candy. She described it as “very sweet”, which showed how different the concept of “sweet” is to US vs. Chinese citizens.) Abbey played rock-paper-scissors against a food truck employee to win a free food sample. We saw elderly people playing majong along the back streets. With the asking price of the items I purchased being $3 (a fan) and $2 (some tea from the region), I didn’t feel the need to haggle. Zoe bought a ring that initially looked to be more expensive, but even she didn’t haggle — all you had to do was ask what the price was, and then got quoted a value about a third of what was posted. Having Naomi and Catherine with us was a win-win — they helped us talk with locals and shopkeepers while we gave them a chance to practice their English. (We later saw several of our English student helpers come to support us at the concert that night.)

Eventually it was time to head back to the university. We were excited about our early dinner, which was three kinds of dumplings. The kids had the opportunity to learn to form the dumplings (“just like Crazy Rich Asians!”) and we were relieved not to have to undertake another huge feast just a few hours after the last one. Zoe was so nervous that she just paced around for most of the dinner hour. She’s accustomed to blending into the crowd as a flute/cello player — but on this trip, there are only two cellos and she’s playing an electric one, which is a key part in a lot of the rock pieces, since the band doesn’t have a bass.

By the time we arrived at the auditorium at 6:15 for the 7pm show, it was already 3/4 full. The crowds continued to stream in, filling the back, sides, and aisles. (Several people commented on the apparent lack of a fire code.) It was another excellent show, despite a series of malfunctions in the cello section. Both the brand new cellos went badly out of tune mid-concert, to the point that Zoe and Jorgen

Full house 15 minutes before performance time!

had to stop playing. Zoe tried to switch to the electric, but the amp malfunctioned so she was only able to get no sound at all, or a deafening level. So the cellos spent much of the concert faking it. Ironically, Zoe felt better after this — she figured that things had gone pretty much as wrong as possible and she had survived the experience.

Afterward there was an absolute mob scene in the courtyard outside the auditorium. Girls were literally squealing and jumping up and down as the musicians emerged. Playing concerts back in Durham is going to be a real drag after getting accustomed to this treatment.

This is supposedly the largest building in the world, as seen from our bus window.