Beijing Birthday celebrations!

Yes, it was my birthday yesterday, and coincidentally, it turned out to also be a fairly romantic day... for all the couples in China :)

The 7th day of the 7th lunar month is also called Qi Xi here in China and it is marked by a Lovers' Festival to celebrate the story of an earthly cowherd and a celestial weaving girl who were separated by the gods, but who are annually reunited in the heavens by a bridge of magpies on the seventh day of the seventh moon.

This is how the Chinese have explained the stars of Altair and Vega reaching towards each other in the late summer night sky; the love story has many variations, but of course in modern times it's mainly an excuse to spoil your sweetie and for girls to tout ginormous bouquets of flowers on public transport :)

I didn't manage to make it to the Badaling portion of The Great Wall. I had seen on the news that morning that the Olympic Torch Relay was going to be traversing through it on it's way to the cauldron at the National Stadium and suspected that regular transport to the site might be severely restricted.

I still made an attempt, heading over to Tain'namen to try to find the Tourist Centre there, only to be told that it was closed... Hmm. I then went to one of the subway stations and a helpful volunteer told me that if I took the line to Jishuitan, bus 919 would be able to take me to Badaling.

I dutifully followed her instructions, but after getting rejection after rejection from the multitudes of 919 bus drivers and conductors, an attendant finally managed to produce a notice in English which said that due to Olympic activities, The Great Wall would be closed until further notice :(

Oh well, I think there was mention that part of the marathon would be run on the Wall (how exciting for the athletes!) and since the torch relay had been there earlier in the day, it was not an unforeseen circumstance.

I decided to go to Plan B - the theatre! I caught the subway back to the interior and headed to the National Theatre, an amazing structure, which seriously is like something out of a Spielburgian sci fi extravaganza. I was thinking about maybe some Beijing Opera for the night? Unfortunately all the tickets for that evening were sold out, but that idea beget Plan C - a visit to the Lao She Teahouse. http://www.loasheteahouse.com/

I managed to get the last ticket for the evening show and had a great time enjoying a few examples of the Chinese folk theatre which included shadow puppetry (the performance was of the ever popular Adventures of Monkey, or Journey into the West); a few scenes from Peking Opera staple "Farewell My Concubine"; and some amazing feats of kung fu. The ticket price also gave you a few local house snacks and an endless supply of green tea :)