11 January, White Cloud Mountain—4 Patriotic Singing

    We started walking down the mountain, when we heard singing in the distance. Even the musician, I insisted that we go find the source. That led to some of the most fun we had all day.

First we saw these people playing badminton. Some of them used racquets, while others just kicked the birdie around on their feel like a hacky sack. You can see a group of the foot-people at the left rear.

Here is another group of foot-people. Pretty inexpensive entertainment, if you ask me!

We walked on, and soon found the source of the sound. It was a large groups of people singing patriotic songs. The woman in the dramatic pose was leading them, and they were seated several deep in a little amphitheater. They were having a great time, and singing very loudly.

Here is a closer view of the goings-on. The woman is wearing a Mao hat of the 1950s and 1960s, and striking revolutionary poses as she leads the singing. This does not necessarily mean that everyone in attendance is that kind of revolutionary, but more that they were enjoying reliving their youth as part of a large group. It's like singing childhood songs again, or maybe closer to singing camp songs. Whatever the motivation, they were doing it vigorously. No one came or went the entire time that we listened. The large sheets of paper behind the woman displayed the words for the songs and something of the tune, I think.

Here is a closer view of the leader. Note the happy faces throughout the crowd. I was told that they did this every Tuesday and Sunday, and that it was an all-volunteer project.

A still-closer view of the leader and the singers. You can see a guy playing a drum. Behind the music was a guy playing a flute, too.

Here is a closer view of the crowd singing and clapping.

Two other people got into the act, too. The woman on the right later approached me and asked if I would lead the group in a song. It was tempting, but I demurred. I think you should know Chinese songs to do that, and I don't!

A lively moment with the three leaders.

Jianwen and Xiaohong watching and listening from the background.

Ahead to Grass Skiing and Bungee Jumping
Back to Guangzhou Jan 04