´óÏó´«Ã½

Vast cities scare me. I like it in Glasgow, where I can walk to the canal in five minutes, and then out into the country in less than an hour. Excited I wasn't about the bus trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou. Over twenty million live in Shanghai – though it's tricky to be precise with six million migrant workers hanging around. (We could do with a few of those in Scotland to get our strawberries picked.) Anyway, Shanghai is growing by at least half a Glasgow every year and I was wondering if we would be able to drive fast enough to see any green before Shanghai joins itself to Hangzhou, 110 miles away. After miles of housing blocks, and then miles of the new middle class condominiums, I found myself looking more carefully. We skid through countries, barely having time to read the guide book before moving on. The greening of motorways here is stupendous. Billions of young trees, shrubs and flowers have been planted. Azaleas, willows, cherry – you name it; tough, bendy stuff to cope with the heat and pollution. We were passing a stretch of many miles of this 'hedge' and I saw a chap cutting it........by himself, with a pair of hand shears, no yellow jacket and no traffic cones. Think long term. Is he the key to China? There's 1.3 billion more where he comes from. The job will take generations – someone will be there to finish it for you. Millions of hanging baskets on crash barriers; and they don't close lanes to water them. The housing thinned out and still every square inch is cultivated. The biggest machine I saw was a motor scooter. We passed hundreds of square miles of tree nurseries. The figure in a coolie hat, bent down to the ground, just working, and working, and....the timeless image. A forty foot high illuminated billboard advertised the 'Lingshan Buddhist Scenic Spot'; I'd loved to have stopped and checked that out. But, wait for this, the highlight of the trip: a urinal. Instead of the ceramic or steel wall to pee up against, it was a glass screen, water running continuously over it, and behind the glass......lilies and orchids. Picture it, though if you've a delicate disposition you'll need to look away, a row of willies, not just any willies but ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra willies – impressive – all enjoying the soothing relief of such a scene.

We got here, with a last minute change of hotel. Allan (see my last blog) had a miserable time expediting our kit down here. For his birthday treat he was stuck overnight in a seat less lorry cab; a decrepit heap, barely big enough for our kit. They don't throw things away here, lorries or plastic bottles. Even if you did, somebody would pick it up and use it, recycle it. We could do with some of those along our roads; all the bags and bottles are harvested. Whatever speed you drive, you stay only three feet from the vehicle in front; just far enough for an old lady (oldster) to wander across. When she does, and she often does, you kick your foot hard down on the brake. You use your horn continuously, not to say, "f... off, you tube", but to say, "It's me, I'm one inch from your blind spot and not intending to slow down". Here, your personal space is respected. Uninvited physical contact is very bad manners. Even Allan looked a little shaken.

The Concert Hall is massive, the shape of a slice of water melon, beside a nearly finished twenty storey golf ball shaped building.......och, I'll not run that 'big' routine again. And I'll not talk about the concert, except to say that we really were big and impressive. We are the first band ever to get the whole audience spontaneously to their feet in applause. The hall is a five minute walk from the start of the canal. Not just any canal.......this one goes out of town and all the way back 1100 miles to Beijing. It was started in 486 BC and finished in 609 AD. You see, they needed to get all that nice food being picked down here, back up there to Beijing.

Anthony

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I'm trusting David to tell you how we nearly didn't get to Shanghai. Well, actually, to be honest, which we have to be, we're already at another there, in Hangzhou, but I didn't have a spare minute yesterday. Even the instruments managed it fine....just...... after half of them got left behind again. Allan, our driver, comes with us to expedite these matters – he has a fearsome physique, very bright eyes, and a nuclear armed smile. But what is not yet here, wherever that is, is my brain, because it got left back there in Beijing. Maybe I'm obsessing – it wouldn't be the first time – but a batch of thoughts is spinning in my mind. The Centre for Performing Arts is astounding just as a building; but it's peripheral stuff going off in my mind like fire crackers. A French architect was chosen. A world class building placed as close as possible to Tiananmen Square, The Great Hall, the Mao Mausoleum and the Forbidden City – the greatest symbols of Chinese tradition and culture. Blokes used to have to be castrated before getting into the Forbidden City – how's that for a symbol of control and sterility? The new Centre is the biggest egg in the world, and a third of its shows are to be foreign. What's wriggling into that egg and what's going to be hatched? It's been told to keep its ticket prices accessible, particularly for foreign ensembles. Alcohol will not be sold in it. China's president Hu Jintao had a couple of very important visitors this week. On Tuesday, President Lee of South Korea was in the Great Hall, standing on Mao's bit of floor, as part of his ground breaking state visit. Korean reunification, with China's support, is well up on the agenda. The message is screaming loud. Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung of Taiwan was the other visitor; pursuing his agenda to thaw relationships with China. You might remember the saga about our instruments getting 'stuck' in China on our way to Taiwan in 2000. Wu and Hu were talking about getting China Taiwan flights started, at last. I was raving about Beihai Park in my last blog. The thing about that park is that the emperor built the huge Tibetan Dagoba (tower) as a demonstration of his belief in Buddhism and as a demonstration of his wish to unite Chinese ethnic groups, and it was deliberately placed on the very spot that Kublai Khan greeted Marco Polo. Think long term. Our concert in Beijing was the first of the 'Meet in Beijing' series, continuing through the Olympics. What are the Olympics going to do to Beijing? From my microbial viewpoint on world biz, this all begins to feel like that time when Gorbachev suddenly started letting go, and the Berlin Wall came tumbling down (our conductor over here is an East Berliner). The effect of China's Great Wall is another topic firecracking in my mind – but I'll spare you that for today. China's Prime Minister Wen has already established a feely shirt sleeves style. Whatever the appalling suffering caused by the earthquake, it has provided an awesome stage on which to demonstrate a new openness – a crashing together of need and desire.

This is meant to be a music blog site.......? Yes, but that's it, we're here, here is now, and we're playing music – just our little contribution – which happened to go down a bomb here (only that is already back there) in Shanghai. My first day in China was in Shanghai, at the start of our last trip in 2000. I went to the museum; it's a striking white building, the shape of an ancient bronze stew pot – with handles on top. Inside, I was immersed in the whole China thing. It's that stew pot I was talking about in my 'Chinoiserie' blog – I'm bubbling away right inside it now. You'll have noticed?

Anthony

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Wow – Shanghai. To be honest, I'm gutted that it was such a 'hit and run' gig. We were delayed in Beijing (stunning airport, by the way) and ended up rushing into the hotel, scrambling around for instruments at the hall, a quick seating call and just time to get changed before the concert. Coming into Shanghai from the airport was like driving through a forest of skyscrapers (I'm pretty sure that somebody somewhere has used that analogy before). Shanghai is an immediately appealing city, out of one coach window a wacky silver tower, out of the other a 19th century Parisian.mansion. It's fast, vibrant and even noisier than Beijing, buzzing constantly. This buzz definitely transferred to the orchestra, no doubt helped by a fantastic 27 storey hotel (I was at the top!) and a very generous reception after the concert, hosted by Controller of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland, Ken MacQuarrie, who has been travelling with us. After the reception a few of us wandered down to the river to see the famous waterfront, a visual nightcap to a brilliant day. I'd been dreading the Shanghai-day ever since I saw the tour schedule – it turned out to be the best so far.

The used to be somewhere else - you couldn't make this up. Apparently, they loved the hall but not the location, so of course they simply moved it, brick-by-brick, to a lovely leafy spot. It was a cute little theatre (small stage = reduced string section size); on stage it felt more like an operatic set-piece, like we should be playing The Nutcraker or something. For me, the concert was mixed. Elgar's Froissart is a great opener but I'd like it more if it wasn't for In the South, which I think is a much better piece. Nicola's Lark was just beautiful, poised and fluid, I love what she does with it. Beethoven 7 is a tough one. It's very easy for it to become a heavy-duty symphony, old-school style – nothing wrong with that, just not my taste/schooling. I hear so much dance in that music but last night it felt to me like a heavy romp (albeit a very enjoyable one). Christoph was on good form though and his baton went flying in the oboes' direction at one point, charitably returned to him by the violas. Our encores are shamelessly cheesy and the audience loved them. Chinese Dances turned an hesitatant/overly-polite audience into a spontaneously cheering crowd and the Eightsome Reel is great fun, though there have been threats in the 2nd violins that we'll have to play it from memory next time.

So, now we're in (capital of Zhejiang provice, a 3 hour drive from Shanghai) for 2 days and 2 more concerts. I'm looking forward to a slightly slower pace and a change of programme.

Quote of the Day today is a visual one, from the escalators at Beijing Airport:

I might start a campaign to get the word "oldster" into popular usage...brilliant.

David Chadwick

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Thursday - Beijing
Here we are then. Important stragglers, like the conductor and soloist, have caught up – as has the half of the instruments that got stuck at Amsterdam. Just as well yesterday was planned as a recovery day. Jet lag and the awful smog notwithstanding, this is a stunning place, transformed even more since our last trip. New airports, spectacular new buildings, new motorways swirling around like noodles, new landscaping everywhere – trees, flowers, hedges, coloured paving. If you haven't been to China, you haven't seen 'big'. The new buildings are stunning. We're playing in one tonight, the Centre for Performing Arts, a giant steel egg right by Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall of the people, where we played last time. That was strange: the inside of that building is like a giant American cinema, and we were playing Elgar, me sticking my cello spike into the bit of floor where Mao stood and harangued the party faithful for five or six hours at a time. Our national squabble about our parliament building seems so petty. Scotland needs, an expensive iconic building – my worry is about the quality of what goes on inside it, and the daftness of our moaning about the building. If you ask me......and I know you're not......then I'd brashly state that the problem is that Scotland is not ready for, or might never even really want, full blown independence and its own parliament. We've got a great big new toy, and we're not sure how to play with it. Now, China......they've been doing "It's us, and it's big" for four thousand years.

The heart rending earthquake disaster seems subsumed under the sheer industriousness of things here; but profits from tonight will be sent to the disaster fund. Our concert is the first of the prestigious 'Meet in Beijing' series which will run many events right through to the end of the Olympics.

Yesterday, folk did the Beijing thing. The great sights have to be seen. I had time when we were here before, so I fancied a day in the park. No ordinary park this, Beihai. Back in the twelfth century the emperor said, "Let's have another new park". So they dug a big (very big) lake, built a little mountain, and covered it with stones and rocks. Not just ordinary rocks, but rocks from the far corners of China. Oh! And let's have Tolkeinesque mythological underground caves as well. Pavilions, pagodas, temples and sculpted avenues surround the lake, and a massive white Tibetan tower, that was built to honour a previous Dalai Lama, dominates the 'mountain'. For buildings, this is just a Beijing side show; but for people watching it must be the best place in the world. Thousands out, singing, dancing, Tai Chi, diabolo, water calligraphy done with huge brushes on the hot pavestones, people playing instruments (you're lucky you missed Lorna and me attempting to play the erhu) – all together, spontaneous and with lots of laughter – and carrying their litter home. One of the calligraphers did it with two brushes at once. Imagine writing a different poem with each hand, both in beautiful calligraphy. Another 'calligraphed' pictures of Lorna and me. Created in a minute, dried out and gone in five – that's right for a Buddhist theme park.

There's been a clutch of press events, receptions and master classes, and now off to our first rehearsal. This Arts building awed me as few others have. Talking of lakes, the whole giant egg sits in the middle of a lake. The entrances take you down under glass ceilings, the water above scattering sunlight in all directions. Inside you have a choice of an opera house, a theatre or a concert hall. Some egg, this. And the acoustic is brilliant. A Chinese boy won a violin competition, and for part of his prize he'll join us on stage for our special Chinese encore.

After tonight's concert we won't have time to breathe for a few days, and it's touch and go whether our kit is going to make it to Shanghai in time for us tomorrow. Our road team need a very sharp red tape cutter. For the players, we just do what we're used to; but they're faced with major challenges on a trip like this. Look forward to hearing how we get on.

Anthony Sayer

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Talk about in at the deep end. Beijing is huge, confusing and hectic. 17 million people live here (just for comparison, Glasgow has just under 600,000). Crossing the road is a nightmare: in a rather brilliant role-reversal it's best to stick close to the fearless old ladies when they cross. The city is clearing gearing up to the Olympics (building work everywhere), which combined with 3 million cars and a lot of coal-burning makes the smog feel like London x 20.

Thankfully, after the long flights, we had a day off yesterday. It's amazing how much you can pack into a day or two but frustrating all the same - there are just so many things I wanted to see (damn you, guidebook). Beijing may be bewildering but it is also a fantastically interesting place. Where to start? The sweltering and steep climb up the Great Wall (hang on – those people that work on the souvenir stalls must climb up there every day), the Summer Palace with the huge calm lake, temples around every corner and 7p ice-lollies, the sheer scale of Tiananmen Square....perhaps the highlight for me so far was getting satisfyingly lost amongst the side alleys - all laterns, foodstalls and bustle...

(and the view after all those steps)

We've just given our first concert, in Beijing, at the . What an amazing building – looks like a giant UFO and houses a concert hall and an opera house. Our instruments must have been in very safe hands during their journey to China – I didn't even need to tune my violin! The concert went pretty well, considering the jetlag...I'm getting pretty good at invisible yawning and playing at the same time. I wonder if it is possible to fall asleep at the violin. Tomorrow may be the perfect test of that: an early bus to the airport, a flight to Shanghai, a bus to the hotel, a bus to the concert hall, a rehearsal and a concert.

The conductor for the tour is , a familiar face with the SSO. is the soloist, playing Mendelssohn, Sibelius and The Lark Ascending. She's been working hard lately, flying straight here from a tour of Spain with the . It goes without saying that we're playing Mendelssohn's Scottish and the Hebrides Overture (hell, why not throw in the Bruch Scottish Fantasy while we're at it?!). Also, we have in the pads Tchaik 5, Beethoven 7, Elgar Froissart and Serenade for Strings. To keep costs down, we're here in fairly small forces, so the big symphonic stuff is out.

I've mastered hello and thank you in Mandarin. Not bad. Well, I say mastered...I get sympathetic looks from the Chinese every time I try any of my 4 words. 4 words in 3 days...it's not looking good.

By the way, I was wrong about the ´óÏó´«Ã½ site being inaccessible from China – it's fine.

Finally, back by popular demand is the Quote of the Day:

Tony Alcock, on the facilities at the Great Wall – "those toilets were 'ming' as well..."

David Chadwick

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...passport
......mp3
.........mandarin phrasebook

...yep, think I'm just about ready. This afternoon the orchestra are flying to Beijing to start the 2008 China Tour. I'm going to try and write another tour blog every few days, hopefully to give you an idea of what it's like to be on tour with the band, warts (jetlag) and all. Think less Sunday Times and more News of the World.

I'm not sure how useful that mandarin phrasebook is going to be. I had a 'learn mandarin the easy way' -style cd at which I lasted around 4 minutes...they lost me when describing how the same syllable can have several (totally different) meanings depending on the precise intonation (the fact that dialects vary hugely around the country did not exactly inspire me to persevere either). Apparently around 10% of websites are filtered out by the Chinese authorities and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ site is among those, so getting my blogs uploaded is going to be a bit of a round-the-houses affair. Anyway, this is just a quick pre-blog blog, so if there's anything you'd like to me to write about or have any questions, leave a comment.

Now, excuse me while I turn into a long-haul zombie....***mindlessly stares at mini TV screen***

David Chadwick

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