Jing Ju

One of our editors belongs to an amateur Peking Opera troupe. Peking Opera is called 'Jing Ju' in Mandarin. It is the most refined form of various forms of traditional Chinese opera. Many regions have their own style. 'Jing' means 'Capital,' as in 'Beijing' (Northern Capital). 'Ju' means opera.

While many people find the music of Chinese opera jarring, I've always liked it. I've had some interesting discussions with our editor about Chinese opera and so he invited me to one of his troupe's performances last weekend.

The picture above is of one of the minor characters sitting backstage before the show.

They performed at a neighborhood cultural association in far western Beijing. The audience was mostly made up of locals who live nearby, including a lot of retirees who know each other well. It was a nice scene - sort of like attending a small town community gathering.

I loved the performance, which was a bit unfinished but full of earnest effort. Below, largely for my own sake, I've included two long segments recorded with my iPhone. The best singing is near the end of the second video.

After the show, I went to congratulate my colleague, pictured here. He was full of the excitement of performers after a show. If you watch the videos below, he is the character that appears in the second part holding a lantern, who then falls into a deep sleep while the action goes on around him.

Part I

Part II