It’s been almost a week since I arrived in China and joined some of the most talented dancers I’ve ever met for a 3 week Contact Improvisation and Dance seminar.

McChina

The city of Xiamen is sort of ugly – big communist buildings, pollution and massive highways. It’s not as cheap as I thought it would be and there’s a lot more western influence than I would have imagined with a McDonalds on every corner. A visit to the supermarket provided some insights, with an entire section of noodles but no bread! Very little cosmetics, lots of individually wrapped strange candy but no obsession with giving you a million plastic bags like in Thailand.

Old and New

Dancing for the secret police!

The intense dance lessons didn’t leave me much time to explore but yesterday we had a free day so off we went. Walking around with this group was a little like living in a real musical. At any moment they are likely to start dancing and performing to the shocked and amazed looks of the bystanders. I kept looking for the Secret Police…

I have to say I’ve had the most strange experiences with locals here. Some stop and stare. Some follow us around. One guy gave us all his business card. Yesterday an old lady stopped me for 5 minutes and was saying “hello” and “ok” and saluting me. Then another man came with a piece of paper and asked me to write on the paper… write what? I have no idea.

Making dumplings

ART?!?!

We were also in 2 openings of galleries. One of which featured a live performance of two naked Chinese hitting each other and was actually created by some Israeli guy! They seem to be everywhere 🙂