In at the deep end
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
