Tea

One week to go.

Thursday night my company (I have a new job) took foreign staff to a performance at the new National Center for the Performing Arts, an ellipsoid known locally as the Egg. Tea, an English-language opera by composer Tan Dun (he won the Best Original Score Oscar for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), uses multimedia and experimental music to tell a story blending Chinese and Japanese legends. Although the opera is set in China and has been performed all over the world, this is the first time it's been on a Chinese stage. All I can say is English should not be an operatic language.


The only way to enter the Egg is through an underwater tunnel, so as not to disturb the building's integrity. Ticketholders have to pass through an X-ray screening and hand over their cameras at security (not that that stops camera phones, or even all cameras, from getting in). Interestingly, an exhibition inside displays the winning design alongside photos and scale models of the submissions that did not succeed. I wonder how the architectural firms behind those bids feel about that.


Officials are ramping up security and trying to contain pollution in the lead-up to the opening ceremony next Friday. Baggage screenings have been set up at subway stations, though strangely not all of them. About 400,000 security volunteers will be on the streets during the Olympic Games. During the "Olympic Period," July 20-September 20, drivers must observe strict traffic regulations that include special Olympic lanes and designated driving days for even and odd-numbered license plates.

The city has also provided locals with "Eight don't asks" to help them avoid offending foreign sensibilities. I had dinner with my Chinese teacher last night and she told me most students receive a similar education upon entering university. Hers was expanded, though, to remind students that Taiwan is part of China no matter what their foreign classmates say.

And of course, there are the visa issues. China has put a halt to all business visas through September, except for contract signings. Many students have had to return to their home countries to renew their visas and won't be allowed to return until September. My roommate and I were discussing this the other night. While the Olympics are great for China, she said, they've seriously disrupted people's lives. After all, the Olympics and Paralympics are not the only things happening in China for the next two months.

China Fun Fact: The National Center for the Performing Arts seats 6,500 people in three halls and covers almost 200,000 square meters.