Presented on the biggest natural stage in the world!
The river as the stage, the mountains as the backdrop!
A cast of over 600 local Zhuang performers!
Modern and traditional music!
Special multi-coloured lighting effects!
Traditional ethnic songs and dances on the river!
Traditional Zhuang, Miao, and Yao dress!
And yes all the exclamations are merited. Once again China has done it. The setting, the fabulous creativity, the music and dancing, the costumes, and above all the vision. Such a vision!
About 1500 years ago, by the Li River in Yangshuo County, in the province of Guangxi in southern China, a child was born to a man called Liu. The child was his third daughter, thus she was named simply Liu Sanjie – third daughter of Liu. She was just another new arrival to this village of Zhuang people until it was discovered that Liu Sanjie had the voice of an angel. The girl could sing!
She became a legend. She became such a legend that there are many folk songs about her and at least three different versions of her story. In one local religion she is revered as a god.
She sang in antiphony, meaning there were alternate or responsive parts to the songs, but no one could match her, no one had voice enough to respond to her glorious voice. They called her the Song Fairy and thought her gift supernatural. Warlords came to her village and were rendered speechless and defeated by her singing. There was a boy named A Niu who could sing the replies to her songs. In the tradition of the time she gave him an embroidered ball to signify she liked him. He tossed it across the river and high onto a rock where no one could reach it and there it remained and became an everlasting symbol of their love. They married and lived happily ever after.
In another version of the legend a warlord fell in love with her and kidnapped her, but her lover and friends from the village rescued her, the couple escaped, and of course they lived happily ever after.
In another version Sanjie lost her parents when she was young. The evil landlord, Mo Huairen made Sanjie his slave, but eventually she managed to escape. Singing together Sanjie and her lover travelled and found their freedom even though they experienced many difficulties. Mo had failed at making her his concubine, and he’d failed at having her bested in a singing competition, so he decided just to have her killed. In defiance of Mo she would not give up singing, and to keep the villagers from being killed on her behalf she jumped into a lake. The moment she hit the water a huge golden carp leapt out and carried her to the heavens.
And thus she was immortalised in the culture of the people, and the villagers passed down her songs from generation to generation.
Inspired by the fairy-tale heroine Liu Sanjie, the 1960 musical movie of the legend, other minority singing, and the acclaimed Yangshuo landscape, Zhang Yimou, one of China’s most notable film directors, has created a grand open-air extravaganza of light, music, dancing, and Chinese legend. Using the river and mountains as the canvas he has created impressions of Sanjie’s birthplace, and of the origin and beauty of the folksongs of the area.
The show is called simply IMPRESSIONS Sanjie Liu. It is a series of impressions of the daily life of the people and of the legacy of Sanjie. The word “impressions” is important. The show is not a literal interpretation of Sanjie’s life story, but rather evocative abstract recreations of the life of the Zhuang people and other ethnic groups of the Yangshuo area during the Tang dynasty (618–907).
Entering the gates, after being greeted by a young woman in Zhang minority traditional dress,
we make our way to the stage.
Darkness falls. There is a welcome announcement.
Then images of the area appear as if against the sky.
Lit from the inside a sampan drifts slowly across on the water. A woman stands at the bow singing. Suddenly, as she finishes, fifty or more people appear on the long dock to the left. They carry burning torches and are dressed in traditional clothing. As they move from the dock and then along in front of us, sometimes walking, sometimes running, they sing a joyous prologue to the impressions. They sing of the legend of the hills and rivers.
Meanwhile behind them on the water fishermen quietly paddle their bamboo rafts out onto the water.
The singers come across the paved area in front of the water and up the aisle right next to where I am sitting.
Enthusiasm and joy fill the air along with the smoke and flames from their torches.
Meanwhile the fishermen are moving into place.
It is only the prologue and already I am captivated. What follows has me completely spellbound. The fishermen, in perfect rows, across an expanse of water a few hundred metres wide, kneel down on their rafts
and draw red cloths from the water. They use the cloths to pull themselves across the expanse of water and then proceed to create intricately choreographed waves with them.
It is a dance on water: men in yellow moving up and down and back and forth, red cloths falling and rising in wave patterns, music soaring.
This is the Red Impression. It symbolises enthusiasm, and praises the labours of the local people. While the fishermen do their dance with the red cloths over 600 people sing in antiphony, the call and response singing of a choir divided into two.
Gradually it ends, the red cloths are gathered up, the lights and music fade, and slowly the fishermen make their way to the shore on the right.
Suddenly there is all kinds of movement there on the shore. The lights come up on a typical village scene. Goods are unloaded from the rafts and carried up to the village, on the lower level women do the laundry in the river as they await the men bringing in the catch, and on the upper level the whole village is revealed. Smoke curls up from the fires, buffalo are herded, people ride by on bicycles. This is the Green Impression symbolising nature and vitality and the peaceful and happy life of the people.
This morphs into over forty girls in Yao Minority costumes walking onto the paved area in front of us while singing a traditional song of the hills and rivers.
It’s an entr’acte while the fishermen prepare on the water behind them for the next scene. Men walk with their fishing nets and cormorants (yes, real cormorants),
along the dock and onto the rafts. To add verisimilitude there are children playing and a man with a buffalo (yes a real buffalo) at the end of the dock.
The girls walk off waving good-bye, and lights dot the water as the next scene unfolds. It is the Golden Impression: Fishing Lights. Hundreds of bamboo rafts with golden fishing lights dance on the water and symbolise the simple existence of life on the river.
Suddenly in their midst a half moon appears on the water as if from nowhere and gentle music fills the air.
As the music continues the fishermen move slowly away as more rafts and beautiful fairy “palaces” arrive from the right.
The lighting is blue, melodious music and singing fill the air, a fairy dances back and forth on the moon.
This is the Blue Impression: Love Songs. A deep dark blue sky and deep dark blue water are the backdrop to Sanjie singing, and women dance on the dock, their movements symbolising the notes of her love songs.
As the blue fairy palaces and bamboo rafts drift away a group of young girls sing and dance with red cloths on the dock.
The scene ends with a couple setting off together on one of the bamboo rafts.
Far off in the distance on the right a line of dancing silver lights appears from nothing. As it moves as one unit across the water at an angle the line gets longer and longer. Suddenly it changes direction and turns back to the right but still angled towards us. And the line continues to get longer and longer. Then it angles back to the left forming a huge zigzag across the water until it looks like this:
Dancing silver dolls. Are they walking on water?
This is the Silver Impression. The column that moves across the water consists of over 200 Zhuang girls walking in unison and then dancing in simple choreographed patterns symbolic of traditional ceremonies and folk celebrations in Sanjie’s hometown.
Suddenly the lights in their costumes are extinguished
and we see their festive black and silver outfits as a group of them walk across the pavement in front of the water.
There is an epilogue. The rafts are rowed further and further away while Sanjie’s folk songs fill the air, the fishermen gather on the long dock, and the girls (sometimes red, sometimes silver again) dance in the distance.
Finally the performers come group by group to take their bows.
It is a visually stunning performance. I knew nothing about it at the time, but it didn’t matter. It was so beautiful and so creative, and the scale of it all so mind-boggling that I was completely enchanted.
I’ve never seen anything like it, except perhaps that other great performance I saw in China, War of the Three Kingdoms. I’m in awe of Zhang Yimou’s vision to create such a piece. He also created the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics, and it seems that whatever he can envision, no matter how outrageous, no matter how big, no matter how many people it will involve, he will find a way to bring it to life.
In my four weeks in China I went to four performances: an acrobat show in Beijing, the Sichuan Opera in Chengdu, War of the Three Kingdoms in Zhongxian, and this show in Yangshuo. The acrobat show was pretty good, but I’ve been spoiled by Cirque du Soleil and the show in Beijing didn’t quite measure up. The other three performances were all simply spectacular. Not enough superlatives. Worth every penny. So so glad I made the choice to go see them.
Just a taste 6.48 minutes
The whole show, but not very good quality video 1.04.07
Next post: A little bit about all the things of China that I haven’t shared yet – the Great Wall, the Yangling Mausoleum, sugar people, fun with the language, and more.
All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2019.
Super, once again. What a magnificent varied world we live in.
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Thanks so much Keith. And indeed, what a magnificent world it is. I’m as curious as ever – still want to see all the things/places I haven’t seen yet!
Alison
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Perfect Alison and Don! We are headed to China this spring as we get closer we will be taking even better notes on your best choices of the area.
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Thank you so much. China is amazing. I’m sure you’ll have a great time!
Alison
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As always, beautiful photos. I’m curious. Are there many people taking photos at these theatre spectaculars. Does it detract from your enjoyment at all – I mean giving attention to the photography instead of just watching?
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Thanks Tracey. There are always people with their cell phones of course, but not that many like me with cameras. I find generally that taking photos doesn’t detract from the experience. I fairly frequently remember to stop photographing and just enjoy, and then the next spectacular thing arises that I just have to capture. It’s a bit of a balancing act but I seem to manage ok.
Alison
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We saw this spectacle when we were in China several years ago and it is one of the most awesome sights I’ve seen. I started to take photos to try and capture it all and then decided that, rather than watch it on a tiny screen, I should relax and take it all in. I’m glad I did that, live in the moment. I find that I have to make a conscious decision to do that otherwise I get too caught up with making images. I sometimes have to do that with wildlife as well, so I can be aware of how amazing it is to be close to a wild animal living their lives. But I’m also glad that you took photos so I could remember the experience.
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Thanks Helen. It’s definitely one of the most awesome sights I’ve seen too. An amazing spectacle. I’m still blown away by Zhang Yimou’s vision to create it.
I get torn between immersing myself in an experience and wanting to photograph it. I managed to find a pretty good balance with this show though admittedly I don’t always. And I know just what you mean about wildlife. Sometimes it’s so much more important to just watch them. Very occasionally I’ve been lucky enough to be able to do both like on the Galapagos.
Glad the photos brought back some good memories for you.
Alison
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Impressive 🤓☺️ all beautiful performances and I’m into the fairies are this moment ☺️ and the word impressions…another educative post Alison…all new to me 🤓 thank you smiles Hedy 😀
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Thank you Hedy. I love sharing all these unusual experiences. I didn’t know what I was watching at the time, I just knew it was amazing. So I got educated too – after the fact.
Smiles from Van. 🙂
Alison
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amazingly epic
entertainment
you got there, Alison!
might be awhile before
that’s available
as an app 🙂
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Amazingly epic is right!
Chuckling about an app.
Hope that never happens.
Alison
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Absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for your wonderful report & pictures!!! It is always a great pleasure for me to discover the world through your eyes.
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Thank you so much Carsten, and you’re welcome. I’m glad you’re enjoying my adventures. It’s such a pleasure to share them.
It really was one of the most amazing things I’ve seen. I’m so glad I went to it.
Alison
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Beautiful! How are u taking these nights shots? Tripod? Just awesome.
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Thanks so much Pam. I have a mirrorless Panasonic – it has built in stabilization, so all hand-held shots with a very fast shutter speed.
Alison
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You are ONE with your camera lady! Well done as usual 💕
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Lol, thank you 🙂
A.
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What a fabulous way to start the day, Alison! I just spent 10 minutes with a cuppa reading and gazing in complete fascination. 🙂 🙂
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Thank you so much Jo. I’m glad you enjoyed it. It was really amazing!
Alison
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What an incredible performance! The photos look absolutely spectacular but I bet they don’t show just how amazing the actual show really was do they? So many performers and incredible choreography.
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Thanks so much Jonno, but you are quite right, the photos don’t do it justice. Live it was one of the most amazing performances I’ve ever seen.
Alison
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The costumes are so beautiful and ornate, and the setting spectacular. Zhang Yimou really is like a guarantee of a mind-blowing, unforgettable show. Looking at your photos and watching the videos you share bring me back to 2008 when I watched the 2008 Summer Olympics on TV. It still is among the greatest opening ceremonies ever.
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Can you believe I’ve yet to see the Beijing Olympic ceremonies. Writing this post brought it up so I’d better go search youtube and see them. I don’t remember why I didn’t watch at the time. We weren’t away travelling so that’s not it. Anyway I’m glad I got to see Zhang Yimou’s work in Yangshuo. Truly spectacular!
Alison
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This is the official video uploaded by the Olympic Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bufV3EgyPGU&t=626s
Enjoy!
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Thank you!
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That backdrop, those costumes, the colors, and the water scenes. Especially the water scenes. OMG. This must have been incredible to see in person. It makes me want to travel here ASAP. Enchanting indeed. Pinned and tweeted.
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Thank you so much Lisa. OMG is right. It’s definitely one of the most fabulous things I’ve seen. It was beautiful to watch, and so professional, so seamless – really a show worth seeing. But if you’re in China you have to go to War of the Three Kingdoms too! Equally fabulous.
Alison
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Well I certainly know that I am going to reference your blog posts when I finally find me way to China!
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Another breathtaking spectacle. My gosh, how do you get over seeing something like that. (I mean this in the best way 🙂)
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Thanks Julie. I hope I don’t get over it 🙂 – well perhaps it will spoil me for future shows. I know the sheer perfection and professionalism and fabulousness of Cirque du Soleil kind of spoiled me for other acrobatic-type shows they set such a very high standard. I can’t imagine ever seeing the equal to this performance on the river in Yangshuo – it really is one of a kind.
Alison
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Amazing scene!!
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Yes, it really was. I was totally blown away by it.
Alison
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I saw this show too, and also really really enjoyed it. A truly magical evening. Your photos are much better than mine.
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Thanks Sarah. My camera has pretty good built-in stabilization so that really helps. It was an amazing show wasn’t it?!
Alison
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Another amazing experience and so well explained. I felt I was there with you. Thanks!
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Thanks so much Darlene. I’m so glad I could convey a little of what it was like to be there. It was really fabulous!
Alison
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Just simply breathtaking!! 💕
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Yes, it really was! I’m glad I could convey some of the magic of it.
Alison
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Wow! The scale of these Chinese productions is over-the-top. Everything from the costumes, to the number of performers, to the lighting is just extraordinary…and in such a beautiful natural setting. The three different versions of the story are great. I love the imagery of the golden carp carrying her to the heavens.Where did you glean all this info?
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Wow is definitely the word. It was quite extraordinary. Re all the info – I did what I always do and researched online. I rarely do much research while travelling (which has been a mistake at times) but always do a lot when I come to write a post for the blog.
Everything about this show was just magical. I’m so glad I went to it.
Alison
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What a mesmerising spectacle! And so evocatively described, I am envious Alison 🙂 We took a conscious decision to swap Guilin and Yangshou for the Chongqing region when we visited China in 2009. We had hoped to catch the Impressions water ballet in Hangzhou. It remains one of my biggest travel disappointments to date to discover that the entire performance had been blocked for a corporate group on our one free evening there!
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Thanks so much Madhu. Oh that’s too bad that you missed Hangzhou show. I didn’t know there was another show similar to the one in Yangshuo. Zhang Yimou is a quite extraordinary visionary I think.
I guess it’s just part of travelling – you can never see everything, but always want to. At least that’s how it is for me lol 🙂
Alison
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Wow. That must have been amazing to see.
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Oh it really was! Simply spectacular!
Alison
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my goodness, what a spectacle! I can only imagine what it was like in real life! adding to my list for whenever I manage to get to China!
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It was really amazing Danila. Definitely worth seeing.
Alison
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We saw this show 4 years ago when re-visiting Guangxi province with our Chinese daughter. It was recommended by our tour guide at the last minute and I was a bit leary since we wouldn’t understand any of the words. Although I am not a fan of the traditional Chinese music, the performance was spectacular and much more than I expected.
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I’m not a huge fan of traditional Chinese music either but found as I listened to it in several instances in China that I mellowed towards it quite a lot, and quite enjoyed it in this performance. And yes of course you’re right about the performance – spectacular, and more than I expected too. I’m so glad I went to it.
Alison
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Looks like an incredible performance. Beautifully captured.
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Thanks so much Sue. It really was quite amazing!
Alison
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Anna and I have just come back from YangShuo. We also went to watch the show.
We have never seen anything like it before. The show is so incredible that I personally believe anyone who plans to go to China should put it as a must.
Thanks for recommending us to watch it before we went there!
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Oh I’m so glad you went to see it! I agree, anyone going to China should go see this show. It’s really amazing.
Alison
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The performances you’ve posted about that you saw in China really are over-the-top and beyond anything I’ve ever seen – I can only compare them to Olympic Opening ceremonies on TV, and that is obviously nothing like being there for the full-scale event. It’s wonderful that these spectacles continue the life of such old, culturally important stories. I also really like the way the elements (fire, water, etc.) are incorporated in the production. And your photography under these conditions – wow, excellent work!!
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Thank you so much. One of the things I like about my camera is the built-in stabilization. There’s also a “hand-held night shot” feature that’s useful. I had no idea how the photos would turn out. There were many duds, but I got a few that are okay, and a couple that I really like.
This show was done by the same man who did the Olympic ceremonies as I mentioned. I’m awed by his vision. Also the vision of the man who created the War of the Three Kingdoms. I’m so glad I went to the four shows. They were for sure highlights of the trip for me. Everyone in my group went to the acrobat show, but only two of us went to the Sichuan Opera, Three Kingdoms, and Sanjie Liu. I think they were put off by the price but I think $60 is a steal for what we saw.
Alison
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What would we do without really good image stabilization – that was one of the prime selling points for me, too. Even so, you must have been so pleased when you saw how well these turned out. I did see that it was the same man who created this and the Olympic show – yes, what vision, seriously! Compare that price to a NY Broadway ticket and I think you come out very well. 😉
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Incredible pictures. I’m so glad you’re sharing them with us; I get so engrossed in shows that it never occurs to me to take pictures! I love the Impressions and the different themes. 😀
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Thanks so much Felicity. Lovely to have you back!
Somehow I manage to take pictures while still being engrossed in the show. Sometimes I miss something, but mostly I get it all even through the lens.
This was an amazing show. Really worth seeing.
Alison
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THIS is why I want to go to China: creativity, spectacle, nature, tradition, folklore and culture all wrapped into one experience. It’s the stuff of travel dreams! I’ve been a fan of Zhang Yimou for a while, I would love to see this!
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It was absolutely spectacular Mo. One day you’ll get to China! And then go see this show. I also *highly* recommend the War of the Three Kingdoms (link in this post) which I thought was even better than Impressions Sanjie Liu.
Everything seems to be done on a huge scale in China.
Alison
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