From Shanghai

This post was written by Nyela Basney, and posted on August 12, 2007 | Filed Under culture | Double-click any word for more info | View other posts by Nyela Basney | | For info on this author, visit http://www.orvietomusica.org

I’m sitting in Michael’s office in one of the administrative trailers on the site of Cirque du Soleil’s production of ”Quidam” in Shanghai, China. The heavens opened up today with a tempestuous thunderstorm and the air is hot and humid. It is 8:15 in the evening and I can hear music coming from the production in the “Big Top” a hundred yards away.

I have been here in Shanghai (my third visit to China) for ten days. Although my sense of culture shock has been tempered by a growing familiarity with the city, I continue to reflect on the isolation I feel, especially when I’m “out and about” on the streets alone. I have traveled on my own in many countries often and confidently. It is the foreignness of the language, both to my ear and to my eye, that causes me unease.

I am studying Mandarin and have tried out my newfound vocabulary on several occasions during this trip, grateful that it seems that people can understand me. And my ear is growing accustomed to hearing patterns and occasional phrases which I can interpret.

The music of “Quidam” is less foreign to my ears, however, than the sounds of the language . . . I wonder if my Chinese friends would agree.