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Chinese Opera on Local Basketball Court

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  1. #1

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    Chinese Opera on Local Basketball Court

    So I was watching the progress of scaffolding being erected on the local outdoor basketball court in Peng Chau, wondering what kind of court construction requires scaffolding. Then they built a roof so I suspected maybe a festival was coming up. Then last night, and also tonight, as I came off the ferry, I heard what I thought was a funeral (lots of traditional Chinese music). But, to my surprise, an entire theater had been built, including a sloped floor leading to the stage, and a Chinese opera was in progress. So I went and had a look, was kind of random with tons of people walking around, talking, not paying much attention, a small altar in the back with incense, tons of food being sold. We have a municipal services building with an indoor gym and a school with I am guessing also a gym so not sure why the very popular basketball court was selected.

    But...this is Peng Chau where at least once every two weeks you exit the ferry directly into a large funeral complete with every kind of paper need for the afterlife (one guy even had a paper life-sized massage chair, how great is that!).

    So is this some kind of cultural program bringing opera to the outlying islands/villages etc.? I didn't notice any signs advertising ticket sales and such. I watched each night for about a half hour but standing near the back, the incense was rather overpowering.

    There are a lot of local celebrations that I don't always understand (and neither do my local Chinese coworkers, they are THAT local). But this is the great thing about Peng Chau, an insight into local culture that you don't always see elsewhere...

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  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by MABinPengChau:
    So is this some kind of cultural program bringing opera to the outlying islands/villages etc.?
    Have you asked your neighbors? (assuming they can understand some English) Or is there a village head or maybe a rural committee office you could go in and ask?

  3. #3

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    i am not sure about hk, but traditionally (at least in singapore) the operas are celebrating performances to worship the gods. its regularly done and i know they don't charge anything in singapore. either FCFS or they might keep the seats for existing paying members of the festival committee but otherwise standing spaces behind are open to public.

    problem with these opera, the language they are using are local dialects. not sure if they will do cantonese in hk, but in singapore hokkien/teochew are commonly used. unless you expect what they talk about its likely quite difficult to understand.

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  4. #4

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    there is travelling chinese opera, it moves from village to village, locals chip in a few hundred, and they have a shows for about two weeks then they dismantle it, move all to next village, erect the bamboo theatre again, and repeat.

    In Sai Kung town they erect the theatre in the car park near the temple.

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  5. #5

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    They are definitely doing this in connection with some kind of religious activity, hence the altar and incense. Most of my immediate neighbors are not local Peng Chau people- I will ask at church on Saturday, all Filipino but more likely to know what's going on as most have lived there a long time.

    Did not know that about "traveling opera."

    They seem to be speaking/singing quite clear Cantonese, the little I can understand. I think any Cantonese speaker could enjoy it.

    Very dramatic, with those rapid costume changes they also do in Kabuki- the handsome prince disguised as the old man, rips off his robe and, voila! The prince! I really liked Kabuki when I lived in Japan but the theatre I went to had English language headphone recordings of what was going on (they also had Japanese language ones because it's not that clear even to natives).

    If I had known, I would have gotten tickets for myself and a coworker and then asked for explanation at the intermission. Not sure if this is annual, I never saw it last time I lived on PC.


  6. #6

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    June 2018, Sai Kung car park erecting the bamboo theatre


  7. #7

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    Due to the contrast between light and dark, most of my pics inside the theatre are garbage, this one is not much better...


  8. #8

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    The impressive rafters, one of the few pics that came out...



  9. #9

    The erection of temporary bamboo structures is commonplace in many parts of Hong Kong and, in my opinion, deserves its mention as a piece of valuable cultural heritage. You'll see more around town next month as July of the lunar calendar comes around. July is the Hungry Ghost Festival and many structures are built to house live Chinese opera performances (for both the living and the dead to watch).

    I haven't seen any proper lists of local celebrations/cultural events and even if there are promotions of them, the promotion is usually only in Chinese too. That said, HK Memory - 香港記憶 | Hong Kong Memory - has a list of Chinese festivals in their respective lunar months which may enlighten you with what may be happening. You might want to acquaint yourself with the lunar calendar to understand when/what the festival or celebration may be.