This is the second course of dumplings, my favorites being the pumpkin ones-bright orange at right. A lot of the dumplings were shaped to look like the thing that was inside them, like a fish with a tail.
The all time crowd pleaser were the piggy dumplings on the third platter. You can see them in front with two little black eyes, snout, and tail. Also outrageously ergonomically edible were the walnut dumplings (at 12 o'clock).
We ate almost all of the steamed dumplings before I remembered to take a picture.
The last course was a lucky dumpling soup, into which the waitress put 6 tiny dumplings. However many you got equalled something e.g. 1 = peace, 2= double happiness, etc. I happened to get none, which didn't particularly surprise me. The only thing was that the waitress could only explain the meaning up to four dumplings, and so my dad repeatedly started saying to her, after 4 it means death. . . DEATH!!!
Some after pics of our binge.
Who's the glutton with the pinkest shirt?
After the calorie fest, there was a really amazing performance based on "Tang Culture." They played on instruments that existed during the Tang dynasty (7th-9th c.) many of which are reconstructed based on the models found in tombs, and used music of the Tang dynasty that was preserved in historical records. I think this lady is playing on a zither of some kind.
One of the most interesting instruments for me to see was this set of bells. I'd studied quite a lot of them, dating back as far as the Han Dynasty (220 B.C.), when they were buried in tombs with their owners.
It was also cool to see the costumes I had seen in paintings put to life. There are many images of women dancing with scarves and long sleeves from the Tang dynasty. Although some of these acts got a little hokey, most prominent being when the the women came out in skimpy leotards draped in sequins and gold lame, I felt myself being rocketed back into my past life as a courtly concubine.
No comments:
Post a Comment