The "Fine Arts" of Shanghai

Let me make a disclaimer about what I mean by "Fine Arts."  I am not the art museum sort of person.  However, I do enjoy the arts.  Whether a painting is on a rock or a canvas, it doesn't matter to me.  "Fine Arts"  has a rough definition, and those who truly know me best, probably can see what's coming in this post: food.  Have patience, friends, and I promise I will get to the good stuff.  No stinky tofu this time.

Peking Opera:

On Wednesday, we had our first field trip for the Chinese Culture class, and we went downtown to a rehearsal of the Peking Opera.  This was, to be very precise, a "loud rehersal,"  meaning all sounds are supposed to be exactly what they should be for the real performance.  However, we did not get to see them in full outfits, and they wear elaborate costumes and makeup.  It looked very much like a high school band practice room:

Woo Panorama Camera Function!

The opera, titled "The Royal Scholar Banquet," was about some scholar who gets kidnapped.  The whole thing was in Chinese so I could not understand any more of the plot, but the sounds were cool.  Side note:  at one point, I could swear I heard one of the actors say "Sacagawea."  The main actress was Peiyu Wang (nickname "Boss Yu") who is one of the most famous actresses in Chinese Opera.  Here is a video from the opera.  Take a listen; unfortunately I did not have a great view, but the instruments are very different.

Unfortunately only one of the videos will load, so watch out for the second two.  Hopefully I can get them up later, but with this internet, it takes a while to upload.

Afterwards there was a Q/A period, and our teacher went to ask a question.  After talking for about 15 seconds, something very strange happened.  The teacher mentioned Jiao Tong (our university in China), then instantly a fleet of cameras from the front rows turned 180 degrees and started taking pictures of us.  I just sat there laughing because I didn't know what else to do.  What I really should have done is take my camera out, stand on my chair, and start snapping pictures back at them.  Our teacher was asking if we could come up and learn Opera from the master, and Boss Yu happily agreed.  We learned a short dance and an incantation.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this part.

Moving onto the rougher part of "Fine Arts"

There is a walkway near our dorm that we use to get to class everyday (or in my case, just Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).  Unexpectedly, it is filled with graffiti  and most of it is pretty cool/artsy.  Thought I would show some pictures of it here:

Moving onto, of course, the good stuff, the food.

I think I am finally getting used to it.  Either that, or I am learning which foods are good and which foods are not.  For this blog, should I save the best food for last?  I think not!

Today for "Dinner" we went to one of the canteens on campus.  Most of the canteens have a bunch of stations serving food from different regions of China.  The station I went to tonight had some sort of Crepe dish, with a very large and thin dough, probably 20 inches in diameter.  The cook would put some sort of food inside, but I was lucky; I had a chocolate paste inside of mine.  Each corner of the crepe like substance was folded into the center and it was then pan fried for a few minutes.  The cook either put egg or butter on the crepe while it was cooking.  Based on the taste of it, I am pretty sure it was butter, but there might have been some sort of egg as well.  Then, it is cut into 16 squares.

Shanghai has been called the Paris of China/Asia.  Let me make one quick probable overstatement: Paris ain't got nothing on these crepes.  Granted, the closest i've been to having a crepe in Paris is spending a hectic two hours in Paris' airport.  These crepe like food object thingys were awesome.  The chocolate blended into the pastry, forming a rich, crunchy, buttery, oozing substance that looked like this:

Go ahead, I give you permission to be jealous.

Let me make one disclaimer.  We have just learned about Yin and Yang in our Chinese culture class.  Yin is generally light foods, like lettuce, fruits, and foods prepared by boiling, or without oil.  Yang are heavier, darker foods- candies, heavy meats, fried foods, sweets, ect.  The Chinese diet is supposed to have a balance of Yin and Yang.  After eating these crepe-like delicious pieces of food, I might need to have a purely Yin diet for a year to balance my diet.

Onto delicious food number two.  I think I've described these before on these blogs.  It's basically a pancake/pita type of bread with a small envelope containing egg cooked inside.  This is used as the bread for a sandwich for meat and vegetables.  It's crazy good.  Still a little heavy on the Yang.  Porn is illegal in China, but you know whats not?  Food Porn!  I leave you with a parting GIF(t).