Spring Festival. Chun Jie. Chinese New Year. All describe the same thing, China's biggest holiday. Just being in a Chinese city has a certain sense of festivity. Come back soon for a few more thoughts on Spring Festival....
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I enjoy dancing. Not the freaky bump-n-grind stuff the young people are doing these days. Though a bit nerdy, I enjoy some old favorites at a good friend's wedding or trying out the few swing moves I know. I cannot refuse an electric slide. And if "Takin Care o' Business" comes on at a wedding reception I WILL be rolling on the ground busting the Alligator with all my heart. Judge me if you like. I enjoy it. So naturally, I fell in love with Uyghur dancing when I moved to Urumqi. You might say I had a few 'mentors' who taught me the finer art of the appropriately placed shoulder bounce, or the perfectly timed spin. I can't get enough. Don't tell anyone, but I've done some of my finer Uyghur dancing in my towel in the privacy and confines of my own house.
Naturally when my birthday came up last October, my chosen method of celebration was dinner and dancing. Urumqi has tens of 'Restaurants' or banquet halls that provide food, live music, and sizable dance floors. Most nights they have large banquets using many of the tables. If there are leftover tables on the day of the celebration many restaurants will sell the extra tables to smaller unexpected groups. The first time I went out dancing with friends at one of these restaurants I was a bit alarmed to be crashing some young couple's wedding reception. This year on my birthday, however, the appointed party was a young boy's circumcision party. Usually several weeks after the 'snip' parents will throw a huge banquet to celebrate their son's right of passage. And so my birthday this year was celebrated side-by-side with a 7 year old wearing a white-suit and glitter in his hair. Mickey & Minnie Mouse made a surprise appearance on the dance floor and we all danced to our hearts content. In December, however, we made an important discovery regarding the art of party crashing. My friend and her roommate, who share a birthday, decided to invite their friends to celebrate with a night of dinner and dancing as well. This time, the restaurant was hosting a wedding reception. Arriving on the second floor, I walked into the party and scanned the room. No table of foreigners. But, the whole room did notice me and a man came over to invite me in. I love how welcoming local hospitality From behind I heard someone call out in Chinese, "Your friends are over here." Turns out there were two banquet halls on that floor. So, finding the right celebration I enjoyed an exciting night of dancing. Every restaurant enjoys some of the more traditional Uyghur pop music toward the beginning of the evening. You know the party is winding down when the light go down and start flashing and the 'disco' music starts. For you to understand 'disco' here you need to remove images of John Travolta in a leisure suit and picture more European techno. Not sure where this word got translated wrong. Regardless, being the lovers of good dancing, an impromptu manifestation of the Electric Slide may have broken out and may or may not have been led by yours truly. Lost in the euphoria of my sliding, I soon realized the unpleasant stares of our dance floor cohabitators. It seems we had upstaged the bride on her big day. Making our quick exit, the bride and her entourage took their rightful place on the floor. Oops. So. After our very scientific inquiry into the finer art of party crashing in Urumqi we do hereby recommend finding circumcision parties to crash rather than wedding receptions. No bride wants a bunch of outsiders spontaneously erupting in the Electric Slide on her big day. As I thought through what to pack when preparing to move here I eyed my trumpet. Years, hours, and money were spent refining my trumpet skills. "Where would I use my trumpet in China?", I asked myself. It failed to make the cut. Counting on a guitar being a little more versatile, I banked on getting one soon after arriving. A friend was heading back to the states and loaned me his. I've enjoyed having it to fiddle around on and pull out when sitting around with friends or for the occasional English Corner.
Recently, however, another American student at my school mentioned he played guitar. After hearing him play in my living room, we started playing together. "We should find some places to perform", we mused one day. Within the week, I found two places that were interested in having us perform, the first one being less than a week after the initial inquiry. Though we're not looking to break into the Urumqi music scene, it is a fun outlet for us. After a few rehearsals we were able to whip together quite diverse set of tunes. CCR. Bob Dylan. Beatles. Clapton. Bon Iver. I threw in a number in Chinese. Jeremy threw in one he wrote. Then, we stumbled onto Johnny Cash. So many Cash tunes to chose from. For this first gig we settled on 'Ring of Fire'. Do you remember the intro? Yep. Trumpet. Should have brought my trumpet! Next time I'm home, the trumpet's coming. |