The Opera Museum

Two week-ends ago, Theresa and I took Jeff Thrasher, who was visiting from Indy, to the old city for a walk around the Ping Jiang Street district.  The weather was miserable - a steady rain all day.  But given the fact that this is the rainy season, miserable weather was the best that we could hope for.

On one of the side streets, we sumbled across the Suzhou Opera Museum.  We know nothing about Chinese opera.  But the admission was free and the old buildings were beautiful to wander through.  But most of all, it was shelter from the rain.

The top photo is the stage -the roofed, raised platform in the center of the photo.  The stage plays out over a stone courtyard.  Near as we could tell, these are the cheap seats.  On either side were enclosed and seemingly private viewing areas.   In the photo below, these seating areas are just behind the screen-like walls of the building. 

A little bit of research on the web tells me that Suzhou is home to a particular style of Chinese opera called Kun Qu.  You can learn a bit more too by watching this short video on YouTube.

The costumes and make-up are extravagant.  Above is a poor photo of one of the costumes on display.  If you'd like to experience more, you can see and hear a sample of a Kun Qu opera at this link.