Last night we went to see the Sichuan Opera. The outdoor auditorium was tucked away at the back of Old Sichuan – lots of "Chinese" buildings with the pagoda-style roofs. They served us tea from teapots with two-foot-long spouts – you try pouring boiling water out of that! 😀 The opera itself was fascinating! It was more of a variety show than one full story, just snippets of the Sichuan art culture. They did a few excerpts from famous operas, a comedic sketch between a husband and wife, puppets, hand-shadows, and "changing masks, spitting fire." This last part was amazing! It’s all a sleight of hand, where they change the silk masks on their faces in the blink of an eye. At one point, the two men changed their masks five times in a span of maybe ten seconds. The costumes were fabulously ornate, and the entire evening was very enjoyable. Here’s a link to more info: http://www.cdw.gov.cn/ehtml/lytt67.htm and this is exactly where we were! 🙂 http://www.shufengyayun.com/ http://www.bashu.net/service/enjoy/qingyang_shufengyayun.htm