2023年11月16日
第九天 (下)
我在大榕树景区走了一圈以后就回去骑电驴走了。下一站是月亮山景区。月亮山景区不让电驴入场，所以我只能停在一个叫观月楼的楼后面。观月楼就是一个传统中国木框建筑，用来赏月的。只不过我到的时候月亮还没出来，所以我只能望着在别的地方也能看到的山。
月亮山景区有一个表演，4:30开始。我到的时候已经四点多一点了，所以我决定就在那里等着表演开始。
我是第一个走进剧场的人，不过就算表演已经开始了，一共也就十来个观众在那里看。现在不是旺季，所以可以理解；不过感觉跳舞的那些人还是有些可怜啊。
这种替别人可怜的感觉马上就没了，为啥呢，因为她们跳得实在是太差了。
基本上只是跳舞，但是从她们的动作就能看出来，这些跳舞的根本就不想跳。她们跳舞的动作完全不同步，真的是无力吐槽。跳舞的还有一个戴着狼面具的女的，一直在那里走来走去两个手臂晃来晃去，特别傻。不过，一共有十来个跳舞的给十来个观众跳舞，能理解为什么她们根本不想好好跳，浪费时间。
这个剧场还有个主持人，主持人有一个唱歌的节目。作为一个自称为“菜鸟乐队”的人，一下就能看出来她是假唱。首先她的嘴形虽然对上了，但是从身体，嘴形，气场来看，她只是在对嘴型，声音根本就没有从声带里面传出来。况且她一直走来走去，如果是真唱的话，声音肯定不会像录音一样那么平稳。不过主持人长得还是挺漂亮的，诶嘿嘿。
表演结束以后，主持人问台下的观众要不要上台和阿妹们一起拍照。我想拍，但是不想看起来太饥渴，所以我就等了一下看看有没有别人先拍。根本没人拍，所以演员全回后台了，我也没机会了。其中一些阿妹是真的挺漂亮的，可惜了。
月亮山有一个挺有意思的故事，和美国的尼克松总统有关。在景区有一个介绍板，上面写着尼克松来广西的故事。尼克松来了以后，看到了月亮山，根本无法理解这个月亮山竟然是真的。被告知月亮山不是用导弹炸开的以后，他非得自己亲眼看一眼；所以所有总统护卫和中方护卫披荆斩棘，创造出了一条路，来让尼克松本人自己确认一下这个月亮山的确是自然创造出来的。这条被开拓出来的山路现在就叫尼克松小路，挺有意思的。
要想看月亮山，一个中间有一个圆形的洞的山，你需要爬到另外一个山上。我大腿太酸了，根本不想爬山，所以我直接走了。
至于说为什么我大腿很酸，那是因为我一直在骑电驴。我本来就对骑电驴这件事情很紧张，再加上没有头盔，我每一次打算刹车或者正在减速的时候都会把我的腿伸下去，和地面平行，这样如果车倒了的话我的腿还能扶住。由于我从来没有用过这块儿肌肉，腿一直抬着真的很累，这点还是需要注意一下的。
看完表演以后，我的十里画廊之旅就结束了。漓江，我姐夫推荐的景区，如果你事先做好调查的话，应该会从那里坐竹筏直接来到十里画廊的。现在再从十里画廊骑车去漓江的话需要骑两个小时的车，两个小时太可怕了，所以我直接放弃了。不过在20元人民币后面的彩绘上面就是漓江，所以如果你对这个很感兴趣的话还是推荐去一趟的。
我的下一站是有名的西街。这是一条步行街，周边全是商店。因为这是一条步行街，所以电驴不允许进，但是我根本不知道这是一条步行街，所以我还是直接骑着过去了。
在步行街的入口有铁做的栅栏，专门防止电驴骑进来。这你可能就要问了，我既然没有从入口进来，我是怎么骑着电驴进来的？答案：高德地图。如果是普通地图软件的话应该就会带我直接从入口进，这样的话我就没办法找电驴停车位了。但是高德地图特别喜欢找小路，然后直接带着我从一个小路进了步行街的正中心。到了步行街以后我才知道这里不允许电驴进。
在人群中骑电驴真的是太痛苦了。正常骑电驴的人在人群中都会大喇叭来让行人避开，但是我觉得这种行为很可恶，所以作为一个现代文明人，我一直用我的腿支撑着电驴，然后一直在找可以停电驴的车位。有一个大妈跟我说在普通路上停会有罚款，所以又是一段很痛苦的路程。
This is where I rested for a bit after trying to get through hoards of people. It is at the middle point of the walking district. I FaceTimed my family for a bit, took some pictures, and asked my brother in law some advice on dinner. He told me to go get the 啤酒鱼, and there is a chain called 大师傅啤酒鱼 everywhere I’ve been to, so I’ve decided to go visit one outside of the walking district.
There is one inside the walking district, but I think there will be no place for me to park the scooter, so I decided to get out. En route of exiting, I saw the restaurant inside the district, and the waitress was out in the street trying to get customers. I asked her if I can park my scooter here, and she said yes. She made some space for me behind the store light and stuffed my scooter in there.
The restaurant has a huge outdoor dining area, and since the weather isn’t as cruel as it is in summer, I opted to dine out.
The first dish is called 啤酒鱼, or Beer Fish. Since I started the gag of translating Chinese food word by word, I had to clarify on Instagram that this one indeed is called Beer Fish. I believe it is fish marinated by beer, hence Beer Fish. It has a rich beer taste, but I’m not tasting anything else. I think they need to cook it a little bit more for the taste to come out; but that’s what they served that night. It wasn’t as good as I would’ve pictured it.
The second dish is called 竹筒鸡, or Bamboo Chicken. It is chicken cooked inside a chopped up bamboo, so the chicken soaks up all the sweetness from the bamboo. I was too much of a chicken to order a full chicken so I just ordered half a chicken. Chicken!
I didn’t finish everything, since I had lunch just 4 hours ago. I only ate one piece of chicken and some soup and half of the fish. I feel bad for leaving so much food behind, but I seriously can’t eat anything more.
Ohh and there is live music right next to me! She was good.
I snapped this picture before leaving. Overall its good, the service was good, definitely.
My last stop was a giant live show called 印象·刘三姐, or Sanjie Liu Impressions. Like I said, I never watched the movie growing up, so I have no idea what the show was going to be. I was also not interested in live shows in general, so I didn’t have high hopes for this one. But, since my brother in law told me to check it out, I obliged.
My brother in law also told me to return my scooter back to the rental place because it is dangerous to drive a scooter at night. He was so right.
I started to leave the restaurant at 5:40, and tried to exit the walking district through the north end. When I arrived, I can see that it indeed was completely shut off to anything but foot traffic. There was no way I can pass through the barricade with a scooter, so I had to return to where I entered and exit through there.
Once I was back on the street, it was fine. There were street lights and other people riding with me so it wasn’t too bad. It also was the first time that I had to do a left turn, and I didn’t know what to do. Since I’ve always been driving on the outer most lane, and all I had to do was turn right, I didn’t know whether I should go to the leftest lane or what. I saw a girl driving and stopped before the car on the leftist lane, so I followed her. Overall it wasn’t too bad.
The bad came when I needed to go through a street without street light. It was absolutely empty and without lights. There is a light on the scooter, but it wasn’t nearly as bright enough for me to see through the darkness, so I had to ride extremely slowly so I don’t bump into anything else.
Then there was the muddy road to the hotel again. Luckily I have already mastered the art of scootering, so I was able to ride all the way to the rental place, bumpy and all, without stepping once into the mud. I was actually very impressed with myself.
After returning the scooter and getting my deposit back, I hailed a ride on the app and got in the car. The driver didn’t like the muddy road, and he is one of those drivers who likes to speed up on mud, which was quite dangerous. Luckily we arrived at the theater all fine.
I bought a ticket online, and went to the gate. They wouldn’t let me in and I had to go across the street to go to the online ticket admission place to get a physical ticket. Once I did that, I rented a cushion because I know I would be sitting on plastic seats and went inside.
The place looks absolutely beautiful. I didn’t know what I was going to expect, but it is an amphitheater in pitch darkness. I was seated next to a French guy with his Chinese wife and their cute little daughter. They forgot to buy a ticket for her daughter, and asked if I was okay swapping seats with them so I would sit in the middle while they get my seat. I said no. I just scootched over one and let them have the middle seat. I am such a lovely person.
The show started with a few people who spoke some what good Mandarin to us, introducing who they are. They’re not the main event though, as I would soon find out.
Once the lights were on, it occurred to me what was going to happen.
Holy crap they choose a amphitheater that has real mountains and real lakes. They even illuminated the entire mountain, which is crazy. The show is not really about Sanjie Liu and her story, but rather just “dance” and singing numbers of the ethnic Bouraus and their way of living. They sing all the time, and it is one of their ways to conduct daily matters. Sanjie Liu was just the name; it is more than just Sanjie Liu, it is a microscopic look at the people who populated this land.
The show was majestic. There is no word other than majestic. It had more than 200 actors who rode boats and sang and danced on floating objects in the middle of the lake. Out of respect to their intellectual property rights, I will only post these two pictures here of the most shocking showpiece of the entire show. I was amazed by the amazing choreography and the singing with this show. You have to check it out yourself, words cannot describe what I have witnessed.
One song that caught my ear (eye) was 藤缠树. It is a love song between Sanjie Liu and her lover, and it had a line in its lyrics that caught my eye: “连就连，我俩结交定百年。哪个九十七岁死，奈何桥上等三年。” It translates to: “We are connected, and we are to be connected for a hundred years. Which one dies at 97, will be the one to wait by the Naihe Bridge”. The Naihe Bridge is the bridge in Chinese mythologies where the dead needs to pass before being able to meet with their family again. This is one of the most romantic and spooky things I’ve ever heard, and with the beautiful melody it has, it was quickly burnt into my brain.
Overall, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed the entire show. I am so glad that I didn’t listen to myself and stayed at the hotel. This show is what everyone must see at least once in their lifetime. It is directed by Zhang Yimou, one of the most prestigious directors known throughout the world (although not so much recently), in the year of 2004. This means that this show has been around all the way since 2004, for almost 20 years now, which should prove how good the show is. It is simply the most majestic thing I have ever seen, and I will be sure to be back next time with more clothes on.
Why did I say that? Well, I am from the North, and we get snow. Our bodies are trained to heat up immediately when we are moving around so we don’t die in the snow. While I was waiting for the show to start, I was moving around, so I was fine. The problem started when the show started, and I had to sit there and stop moving. By then it was about 5 degrees celsius, which is extremely cold. I had to sit there in the cold while wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a denim jacket. It was so freaking cold. I thought about leaving, but then I saw on my watch that it has just 50 minutes left, so I stuck it out. I definitely caught the cold, though.
So remember, rent a cushion for your butt like I did, and do rent the coat that they have. It is necessary for people who want to survive.
After the show, I called a cab back to the hotel. I knew that this hotel offers a lot of amenities like Afternoon Tea, Fresh Fruits, and 30 minute Professional Photography. I asked the front desk about the photography, and they told me that it is completely complementary with every room, and a professional photographer will take pictures of you with the beautiful mountains. They will give you all of the photos and will photoshop/lightroom 10 of the pictures for free. Since I’ve never taken pictures of myself when I’m traveling, I didn’t ask to sign up at first.
I knew I caught the cold, so I, for the first time in my life, drew a bath in a hotel bathtub. It is a circular tub and the hotel provided plastic wraps for the tub so you don’t have to feel like you are stewing in someone else’s filth. After the bath, I thought that I should really experience the whole package, since my brother in law already paid for it, why not enjoy the services that is not complementary at all? (You’ve already paid for it, if you don’t use it, you’re wasting money)
I didn’t buy train tickets back to Foshan yet, I was basically free all day tomorrow. I called the front desk to check if they still have vacancies, and they do, at 10 AM in the morning. They asked me what my WeChat ID is, and they are going to form a group chat from there. After a while, there was nothing popping up on my phone, so I decided to get dressed and go down there to check.
It was totally unexpected. The front desk staff came to my room, rang the bell, and got my WeChat information in person. I was completely surprised and impressed by the services that this hotel had. Wow. I should never live in a cheap hotel again was the first thought that popped into my head. Wow.
Then I slept, like a freaking baby. I’ve experienced so much today, and holy cow I’ve written a lot about today.