China Updates  

New pics may be added to older posts - scroll down. Most recent entries on top.

 Map of Performance Cities (Control+click link to open Map in a new window or tab)

6/30/13  After a crazy day of messages about another delay, they are back to the original delay of about 24 hours later than originally scheduled.  They have been hanging out in a 5 star hotel with free wireless and some students with wireless devices were able to Facetime with their families. We are really looking forward to hearing about this trip.

6/30/13  Return trip delayed.  Parents check your email or voicemail.  Enjoying comfortable accommodations due to flight cancellation.

6/29/13 Late night in China “What an incredible end to an incredible year! The hall was amazing! It was designed to look like a butterfly from an airplane. The security was really tight- we had to have passes to go in and out and to be in our dressing rooms. We took lots of pictures on stage today, and a professional video was made of the concert. The crowd was really into the show- singing along with Don’t Stop Believin, and then they went nuts with the glow sticks. We had enough to do a double set of glow sticks on everyone's bow- so it looked really cool!! We got a few seconds of shopping in- not much. I think we are very ready to eat our normal foods, see blue sky and breathe clean air. What an experience though- one that we will remember the rest of our lives. The students have been amazing as always- went with the flow (which changed frequently), they tried many different kinds of foods, can now easily use chopsticks, have learned how to use squatty potties, they got along the best they have all year. Tomorrow we get to sleep in and then we leave for the airport at noon to begin our journey back. Our plane lands in mpls at 8:21 pm Sunday. We will call when we are on 94 and will hopefully be home before midnight!!”

6/28/13 About midnight in China  “Sorry- pics r not wanting to send. We were on the road again for the last time! It was a three and a half hour drive to Shanghai through mountains and over the worlds longest bridge over an ocean. Pretty neat! We ate, checked in, and then went to a market center. Many students (and adults) put their bartering skills to work and got many good deals!! We then went downtown and saw the incredible lights on the buildings. We began near the river and then walked through what looked like Times Square. From there we got back on the buses and went to a hot pot place. There is a pot with broth in the middle of the table, and then u dump meat and veggies in, let them cook and then eat them!! It is fantastic!! I think we are exhausted, but had a great day! We saw the sun for 30 seconds, but at least it stopped raining. Our last performance is tomorrow night in one of the top performing centers in the world!! And it's sold out!!! We are going to have professional pics taken as well as video.”  Shanghai Cultural Arts Center  Showbill for Saturday’s concert.

6/27/13 11:45pm in China “Another rainy day today. We have really gotten to know our interpreter - she is really sweet!! I showed her a picture and the sky was blue (I was teaching her the word winter jacket) - and she went crazy about the sky. She couldn't believe it was real- she has never seen blue sky because there is so much smog. That's really sad. Most of us slept on the bus ride to Ningbo. We checked into a motel that is very under construction and then did a sound check in a beautiful auditorium. It is right on a river, 5 years old, but full of mold. I was really proud of the students for another incredible concert and for all putting on masks to watch the rest of the performance. Tomorrow we head to our final destination- Shanghai!”

Ningbo Performance Hall Lobby and Sound Check

6/26/13 11:45 pm in China “Tonight we went to dinner and then our trip to West Lake was cancelled due to the rain ☹. Many students have been asking if we could go to another grocery store, and we saw a Walmart on the way back from the temple, so we asked if we could go there. Our driver took us there, thanks to our interpreter Ivy who navigated the way. It was an adventure! Everyone is in bed. Tomorrow we travel a great distance (everything is either 2 hours or 20 minutes away- so this must be the 2 hours- which could be anywhere from an hour to four!!)

6/26/13 Late Wed afternoon "It's raining, it's pouring!!!  It was so nice to drive out of the city and into the hills where things are very lush and green. We began at a tea factory where we saw a demonstration of how healthy green tea is. They showed us the spring tea and how it is called the emperors tea because at one time it was only served to the emperor.  We then went to the temple where I believe the plan was to have a picnic lunch. We had Subway sandwiches under an umbrella!  We then saw four buddhist temples. The park was beautiful, but we weren't able to fully enjoy it due to the rain. We are soaked and headed back to the hotel to change before dinner.”

Tea Plantation

Shopping

6/25/13 Late Tues night "Our boat ride last night was nice. Today we took our bus to Hangzhou. We listened to three conservatory musicians play two pieces each on traditional Chinese instruments. Then we did a sound check and performed to a very excited crowd!! Dinner was after the show, so many of the students just got back (several decided to hang out at the hotel or call is an early night). We get to sleep in tomorrow! We found out our last show is almost sold out!!! The hotel we are at right now is really nice- a five star, but there isn't wi fi here, so I will try to send more pics in a few days."

6/24/13 Monday eve- "We got to sleep in this morning!!! It was nice to not have pressure today to get a sound check in and a performance. We went to a silk factory where we had a presentation of how silk is made, and then held silk worms, saw the cocoons that the silk is pulled from, and then saw them pull it off, ending with weaving it. It takes 300 cocoons to make a silk tie, and 6000 cocoons to make a silk quilt (which many off us bought;)). They use every part of the worm- even the poo. They have found that when they put a bag of poo in a pillow it helps insomnia (don't worry- no one got one of those, but Erich was tempted!!) We then went shopping in little shops- some were really fancy and some were places we could bargain. Many of us ran to the grocery store next door to our hotel- it had a big candy isle (nothing is in English, so we really don't know what we bought!!)!  needless to say, we r on the way to a boat ride (postponed from last night) and the students have a crazy amount of energy!!! We r drinking crazy amounts of water to keep hydrated, and found powered energy drink at the grocery store to help keep our electro lights up!!! "

6/23/13  Sunday Night Hotel - “Went to dinner and are now having some much needed down time.”

6/22/13 Xuzhou Concert Hall Saturday night performance

6/22/13 A parent just heard from a relative that lives in Beijing. They said that the Forbidden City venue where WC performed is equivalent to our Carnegie Hall and they were blown away with the performance.

6/22/13 11:55pm in China "Today we rode a train about four hours south of Beijing and performed in an amazing concert hall!! We have heard nothing but amazing things about our group!! There were many more people in the audience - supposedly the word got out about the show and how good it was!!! Catching another train super early in the am and then playing in an amusement park in the afternoon!"

6/22/13 8:20am in China “A few things about individual people...Autumn got to see her uncle that lives in Beijing. He came to the concert and couldn't believe where we were playing, and then was blown away with our performance. Sarah likes to forget things- like her shoes and bows- I think she has a team following her now to keep track of her things. Randi found she doesn't appreciate cockroaches- especially on her pillow!! (Luckily she found it before she climbed into bed). Erich is a sound sleeper- two nights ago we were on our bus going back to the hotel. Erich had fallen asleep. We took a corner- and he fell out of his seat and didn't wake up. He finally woke up with the commotion of everyone asking him if he was ok. He was fine. Larissa did a fantastic job of teaching everyone how to put on their make up. They each had their own little spot in the dressing room with a mirror yesterday- and it was a really cool team bonding activity spending several hours getting themselves done up! The group has gotten along the best they ever had- they are really watching out for each other (Molly P with a bloody nose and people handing her endless Kleenex) and have really been supportive of each other. As we were waiting to do sound check yesterday, most of the adults went to do some last Beijing shopping for the students (or at least that's what they said!!) I'm not quite sure all that happened- but they came back giggling like kids. They walked miles to where someone said there was good shopping- to find that wasn't true! Then they followed some guy on a scooter who said he was  an artist (safe?!!?!) to his studio. It ended up being an amazing thing- he told stories of his paintings. I don't know if he was good looking or what- but they sure bought lots!! Then my mom photo bombed a group picture (this happens all the time over here- we will be set up to take a group picture and random people jump in with us) the weather is incredibly sticky- they feed us endless bottle water, which is great. We are headed further south today- I guess it's even warmer!!!”

6/21/13 11:30 pm in China "We just rocked our first performance!!!  I am so proud of them!!! They were professional, full of smiles and the audience loved their glow sticks!! Tomorrow we catch a train for about 5 hours."

6/21/13 "We are getting ready for our first performance!! The morning was spent seeing Tiananmen square and the Forbidden City. We had a wonderful lunch that included dumplings. The afternoon was a sound check that had many glitches, but the group worked on putting on make up!! It's neat to see all the different groups- we are all different which is neat!!"

6/20/13  "We had a wonderful first day in Beijing! After the markets we went and had Beijing duck- which most tried! Then we came back to the hotel and had a rehearsal with the other three groups on the two pieces we will be performing together. The sound was amazing!!! The Baumanns spent the day with us- it was great to see them!  We are exhausted and headed to bed. Off to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City tomorrow."

6/20/13 from Molly: "We had a great day- We climbed the Great Wall,  ate our first chinese meal- which people did well with, went to Olympic village and went to a market. We find that people like to jump into our pictures!! It's very humid here!! We are headed to dinner and then our first big rehearsal!!  All is well, and I think we will all sleep well tonight."

The Great Wall

Olympic Village

6/19/13  Map of Performance Cities

6/19/13  From Director, Molly Nordin via txt: “We made it!! This is the lobby of our hotel in Beijing. (image did not transmit) The students played in the airport in Seattle- one woman from China started clapping when they started singing China Song! Many sang along, tons of people had their video cameras out, and some students were asked to have their pictures taken!! It was really exciting. The flight wasn't too bad. Mr Smyth met us at the airport, we hopped on a bus and went to our hotel. Tomorrow we head to the Great Wall!!”

6/19/13 Arrived in Beijiing, the image below shows their flight path from Seattle 10 hrs. 49 min.

6/18/13 Impromptu Entertaining at the  Seattle Airport

6/18/13. First leg of the flight finished. Lets hope their luggage switched planes successfully too.

6/18/13  Rehearsing one last time this morning before they board a bus to head to the airport. Prior to rehearsal they gathered to get some last minute language coaching from a friend of the group.