Entertainment in Beijing

Practical Information
• Today, Beijing is really "a capital of lairs, culture, folk customs and festivals", a metropolis with ancient-capital charm and modern vigor. In addition to traditional festivals and celebrations every year, a good many of national and even international fairs took place here, including the yearly Beijing International Books Exhibition, Auto Show, Communications Fair, as wall as performances and fairs of top artists from all over China am) the world.
• During the Chinese Spring Festival, traditional folk festivals like Temple Fair, Flower Fair and Lantern Fair are held, The Mid Autumn Festival, Ice Lantern Festival, Daguanyuan Spring Greeting Fair, Kite Festival, Watermelon Festival, Peach-blossom Festival and Red Leaves Festival together with a variety of mouthwatering cuisine festivals trace out a local folk custom picture, To a tourist visiting Beijing for the first time, your eyes will be vary busy on multiple festivals and special fairs. After appreciating, the profound and long standing ancient-capital charm of Beijing, you will also experience Its fast rhythm as an international metropolis, Here is a stunt: buy a piece of Beijing Evening Paper or Shopping Guide ovary day which publish relative timely and detailed information on fairs.
• Where night you spend your time from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am? Sanlitun or Chaoyang Park? Beijing has nearly a thousand of bars, ballrooms and clubs all together. It's rarely possible to visit all of them. It would be bettor to seek for several entertainment places of special style where the most merry, fantastic and romantic visions are presented. Wail a moment, what should be reminded particularly is that: only adults at 18 and over are permitted to enter these entertainment places.
• Guide Regulations to Bar Visitors
  - The Price List in some bars is unique and humorous. For example, a kind of cocktail is named "gigolo": mixed with mint wine and Vodka. You can express your action by your body shape after drinking. Names of cocktail are very flaring. But all of them are from the color and nature of the cocktail. When you order, please note what the cocktail is mixed with for fear that strong spirits will make you drunk.
  - The same wine or drink has different prices in different bars.
  - Almost every bar has its own special wines and drinks.
  - Most bars offer band performance at weekends. But there are many fans, but you should get ticket.
  - When you order a cocktail, you can request a mixing show to the mixologist.
  - Since there are many bar visitors, be sure to look after your property.
  - Don't drink too much or drink together with strong spirits.
  - Don't drink outdated beer. (Ordinary beers can be stored for 2 months, high-quality beers for 4 months, and draught beer for 5 to 10 days only.
  - Don't drink if you're a patient of digestive system disease.
  - Don't liquor up beer if you sweat profusely.
  - Don't eat salted and smoked food while drinking beer.
• Enjoying original Beijing Opera in Beijing is a necessary choice for many visitors. Before that, it's suggested that you should get some knowledge on Chinese traditional operas if you are not an authentic amateur so that you will enjoy it better. Please see next pages for details.

Beijing Opera Hot Zone
Beijing Opera, a quintessence of China to the core, is deeply loved by the people of Beijing. Walking on the street, you can always hear the cadence of Beijing Opera pieces from a roadside. Source of Beijing Opera can be traced back to several ancient local operas. In 1790, four local theatrical troupes from Anhui Province of China, sanqing Troupe, Sixi Troupe, Chungong Troupe and Chun Troupe, came to Beijing to stage successively. Their performances were of unprecedented success. The Huiban (Anhui Troupes) used to stage cooperatively with actors in Han dialect from Hubei province. So a new opera, known as Beijing Opera now, was born, focusing on "erhuang" in Hui dialect and "xi pi" in Han dialect and absorbing the cream of several local operas including Kunqu opera, QinQiang opera and Bangzi opera. In the 200 years of development, Beijing Opera has been increasingly Beijingized in terms of libretto singing, spoken part and rhyme. Musical instruments including erhu (urheen) and jinghu integrated the invention of several ethnic groups. Eventually Beijing Opera becomes a kind of fully-grown art. Resembling Western operas partly as integrating the singing, dancing, acrobatic lighting, music, fine art and literature, so it is called "Beijing Opera" by Westerners. When enjoying the Beijing Opera, understanding the painted face of different roles will help you involve in the play better. Well then, do you know what the painted faces symbolize? To symbolize the character and quality, role and fortune of a person by painting colors on the face is an important feature of Beijing Opera, and a key to understand the gut.
Simply, red face is commendatory, representing loyal and brave men; black face is neutral, representing lionhearted and sharp sighted men; blue face and green face are also neutral. representing greenwood heroes; yellow face and white face are derogatory, representing fierce and cunning men; golden and silver faces are mysterious, representing God and spirits. In addition to the color, the shape of a painted face is also similarly symbolic. For example, the extremely evil-minded pink face includes that painted across the full face and that painted only on the bridge of the nose and eyehole. Different area and part painted indicate different catty and crafty extent. Generally, the larger the area, the more evil-minded.

• Sheng, Dan, Jing, Chou
"Sheng" is a positive male character. "Dan" is a positive female character. "Jing" is a minor male role with bright character. "Chou" is a humorous or negative character. Each character has a painted face or appearance indicating his/her identification, which will give you an easy acquaintance once the actor steps onto the stage. And, do you know that there are a great number of celebrities among amateurs of Beijing Opera? One of them is Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty who not only could act but also play drum. In today's Summer Palace remains a nationally largest opera building which is 21 ms high and consists of three floors. Obviously, Beijing Opera played an important role in imperial palace. Ok, just think where you'll go to enjoy an opera tonight!

Modern Drama Hot Zone
After enjoying the Beijing Opera performance, there's still a unique course of cultural food of old Beijing waiting for you. That's the folk arts of Beijing style derived form life and loved by common people.

• Cross talks
It's believed that most native-born Chinese have been familiar with it very much. Names like Ma Sanli and Hou Baolin, masters of cross talks, have been heard many times. The cross talk, developed at Beijing street corners, needs no setting, even no stage. It high lights on the "speaking, imitating, making fun and singing". Speaking focuses on joke making. Imitating means imitating multiple sounds, dialects and expressions. Making fun is to create japes of refreshing contrast or self-satisfaction with stunts. Singing means singing dramas or humorous song turgidly. There's only one purpose in all of these, to make you laugh to you laugh to you heart. So, cross talk is also called as "the art of laugh".

• Storytelling
Storytelling is deeply loved by Beijing natives especially aged ones. Storytelling is performed by one person with a paper fan in hand who stands in stands in front of a table with a gavel on it. The gavel is applied to beat the table reminding the listeners at the time when the story is told to a showdown. Today's listeners still love historical romaunts. Since it is storytelling, so a story is evaluated combining with real life when it is told. Very attractive! Storytelling is kind of language art in which a story is told vividly with a cadence of word speaking and the frame of weapons postured. Several dozens of sentences are recited with rhyme and without any break, together with actions. Listeners can remain lasting interest.

• Acrobatics
With frequent international great awards, Chinese acrobatics is very famous in the world. Exciting performances are amazing. But, where would you enjoy it? Certainly the Lao She Tea House which is rich of Beijing tone. Here is a party of distinguished friends every night. Beijing Opera, folk arts, acrobatics and other art forms of China's quintessence are staged in this oriental-style salon. While appreciating elegant cultural activities qin, qi, shu and hua (musical instrument, Chinese chess, book and painting), you can also enjoy the essence of China tea culture.

• Lao She Tea House
In the area of Qianmen Jialou (the Watch Tower) of Beijing, Da Wan Cha (Big Bowl Tea) has always been the most noticeable sight. Of course, the most well known tea house is the Lao She Tea House. With a not large front door, it can always retain people's steps. In the Tea House, it seems to be in a museum of folk customs of Beijing. Together with the paintings and calligraphies, couplets, old-fashioned square tables for eight persons, backrest chairs everywhere, you'll have a sudden strong sense of literary aura. So far, famous roles of every genre including Mei Baojiu, Yuan Shihai, Zhao Baochen in the circle of Beijing Opera; and famous actors of folk art such as Ma Sanli, Hou Baolin, and Ma Ji as well as performance celebrities like Xin Fengxia and Li Wenhua gave show on the not-large stage one after another. As a gathering place for folk customs culture in the area of Beijing, a lot of excellent local traditional programs are showed here every day, including Beijing qinshu (storytelling mainly in song, with musical instrument) by Guan Xuezeng, Jingyun Dagu (storytelling in Beijing dialect with drum accompaniment) by Sun Shuyun, and Henan zhuizi by Ma Yuping. You can taste the full-bodied folk customs culture of Beijing style while enjoying the wonderful singing of these artists. George Bush, the former US President, Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State, Wang Dingchang, Singaporean President, Hung Suong, Prime Minister of Cambodia and Thailand Princess as well as other important governmental members from different countries were honored guests in this House.

• Beijing People's Art Theater
As a small theater of Beijing People's Art Theater, it has a long history, staging operas well known home and abroad. Especially in recent years, audiences have preferred to stage plays in the small theatre, which has shortened the distance between actors and audience sharply.
- Address: 22 Wangfujing Street, Beijing
- Directions: Take No.101, 103, 108, 112 or 803 and get off at Art Gallery stop

• Small Experimental Theater of the Central Drama Institute
Well-functioned facilities, 14m-diameter revolving stage, 921 seats, professional surrounding acoustics of high-quality tone. Services also include video recording, conference, exhibition, decor preparation.
- Address: 39 Xianghui, Dongmian Hutong, Dongcheng District
- Directions: Take No.104 or 108 buses and get off at Beibingmasi stop

Concert Hall Hot Zone
Wonderful performances are available every month in every large concert hall of Beijing. Listen to diversified delicate rhythms and dip your urban-air-polluted heart into the music. When the music ends, you will find your mood sublimed and purified.

• Gold Sail Concert Hall
Even far most seats are no more than 15 meters away from the stage. A special concert hall for small and large elegant music performances. Without electro acoustic speakers, this Hall provides fully natural sounds to meet the requirements of music appreciation. The first one suitable for chamber music performance in the capital.
- Address: No.24 Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing
- Directions: Take buses No.104, 108 or 111 and get off at Art Gallery stop

• Zhongshan Park Concert Hall
- Address: In the Zhongshan Park

• Beijing Concert Hall
- Address: No.1 Beixinhua Street

• Beijing Crowne Plaza Hotel Art Salon
- Address: Crowne Plaza Hotel (No.48 Wangfujing Street)

• Poly Theater
- Address: No.14 Dongzhimen South Street, Dongcheng
- Directions: Take No.106 bus or subway and get off at Dongsishitiao stop

• Beizhan Theater
- Address: No.135 Xizhimenwai Street, Xicheng District
- Directions: Take buses No.7, 15, 102,107,111, 332 or 808 and get off at Zhanlanguan stop