From the stage with our translator, Janice at the Zebra Camp Carnival.
Zebras with accordions, drums & guitars! The festival poster.
I remember how exciting it was to receive the email with the subject title “Shanghai Festival.” Where…? What…? When…? Nǐ hǎo - yes, please! What an opportunity: We were invited to play three shows at the inaugural Zebra Camp Children’s Forest Carnival in Shanghai’s Fengxian district in the fall of 2019.
Bridget & Brady ready to blast off! 🚀
Claudia, Larry, Bridget & I scrambled around renewing passports and securing visas. Soon our departure day arrived! After nearly missing our connection in Detroit, we finally settled down in our comfy seats and made our way to Shanghai, ready to share our music half way ‘round the world. We met our guide James Lu at the airport (in an UCLA shirt!) loaded up the accordion, guitar and rub-board and off we went.
ZEBRA CAMP CHILDREN’S FOREST CARNIVAL
Greeted by a very big, happy zebra!
Inside the Nine Trees Performing Arts Center.
Fengxian is about an hour south of Shanghai in the “forest” region. After a bit of walking around the relatively small but robust district, dodging scooters (everyone rides a scooter – moms, dads, grandmas, babies, everyone!) Larry did finally come upon some woods. It was a charming town - lots of shops, parks and families out and about.
The festival was held at the brand new Nine Trees Performing Arts Center. It’s humongous! The building itself is modeled after a seed (how lovely is that?!) and contains 3 theaters – one with 2000 seats. The grounds around the center stretched out and out and everything was brand new. The trees still had supporting ropes, the ponds were freshly dug, the sod was neon-green and the amphitheater awaited its first fans and performers to christen its stage. There was a new excitement in the air. It was Golden Week in China, a national holiday, so lots of families were able to attend the festival. It was such a bright, happy scene with colorful banners, big blow up zebras, fun activities and food. China was also celebrating their 70th Year Anniversary of forming the People’s Republic of China. So we were there at a very interesting time.
The Nine Trees Performing Arts Center
We arrived at the Nine Trees Festival on Wednesday, Oct 2nd for a sound check and met one of the other acts, Road of the Rainbow, a band of young kids (6-11 yrs) from Beijing. Their music teacher, Leo Lee, helps them write the songs, rehearse and perform. As we were waiting to sound check they took out their instruments and greeted us with a few of their tunes - their proud parents looking on. They’re amazing - innocent, effortless, bright, fresh and cool. Their voices are gorgeous. Larry, Claudia and I played them a few of our tunes and pretty soon we were all singing together. What a great way to break the ice and make some new friends. They would join us later onstage for a tune during the concerts. So grateful they were willing to hop up & sing with us.
Road of the Rainbow band • Coco, Stella, Jennifer, Re, Alec
All and all we played 3 shows – each of them fantastic. Our Chinese audiences didn’t know a lick of our music but by the end we were all singing and dancing - doing the “Love Train,” “hey”ing & “ho”ing, laughing and having a blast. We even spied a few of the police guards in their dark gray, red starred uniforms dancing in the wings. The inflated walking zebras would come by and mingle with the kids and our Chinese interpreter, Janice, translated our song intros and stories for the audience.
Larry suggested we do a version of a popular Chinese children’s song, “Snail and Orioles.” We sang it first in English and then asked them to sing it in Mandarin. Everyone recognized the tune, but we quickly discovered that the younger generation didn’t know the words as well as the older folks did. So, for the following performances, we had our translator remind the kids of the lyrics. That did the trick! Soon enough everyone was singing along to this lovely tune. It’s wild how we can all come from such different places but then for a short, sweet minute, with the help of a song, we are able to come together as one.
The original Chinese “Snail and Orioles” video
Snail and Orioles stage backdrop.
Our version of the “Snail and Orioles”
Stuffed oysters & chicken skin on a stick
After the final concert, Leo Lee and the kids treated us to a traditional Chinese feast. The lazy-susan was spinning ‘round like a top! More than a couple dozen exotic dishes for the tasting. Some were familiar like all kinds of cabbages, stuffed oysters, clams & various grilled meats - and then some were not so familiar… chicken skin on a stick, grilled chicken’s feet, pig’s blood stew, sweet rice soup and a mystery soup (which was delicious.) Leo Lee & I tried to identify it but Google translate could only help us so much! We toasted throughout the night to good food, new friends, making music and seeing each other again.
“Check please…”
Thanks to the wonderful folks we worked with – stage, tech and festival crew, musicians and production company. Everyone was so friendly, accommodating and professional - it was really a pleasure to be part of the event.
With our translator, Janice.
THE LITTLE “BUND” THAT COULD IN SHANGHAI
We had some time to explore and ventured into Shanghai for a few days. On the first visit, with our heads under umbrellas, we trekked through a small monsoon, winding our way though the old Yuyuon Market and Yuyuon Garden - narrow market alleys, rows & rows of mysterious shops, red lanterns strung high - it made for a surreal (and rainy) stroll. Despite the rain, the garden, old temples and the pond were lovely. On the next visit we made it to The Bund. It’s a long promenade along the western bank of the Huangpu River. The views of the entire city (very old and very new) were incredible. It was evening and Shanghai was in full 70th Anniversary swing - the city-wide light show was mind-blowing. Buildings completely wrapped in video screens, lasers shooting out from rooftops, patriotic music piped everywhere, and even a long ivy wall dotted with circular windows, like portholes, displaying hologram butterflies and birds. It was right out of Blade Runner. As Claudia said throughout the trip, it felt like we were on the moon. Just spectacular. Bridget found us a very special restaurant overlooking The Bund and during our meal, every half hour, we’d put down our chop sticks and step out onto the three-story high deck and marvel at the city - all lit up like a pinball machine!
Fengxian
One of the quieter highlights for me was walking around our little neighborhood in Fengxian and enjoying a typical Saturday morning. So fun to be a foreign fly on the wall – experiencing a simple day in the life.
We love that our music is getting out there into the world and that it’s bringing folks together for a smile and a song. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this trip happen. Great fun to travel with Claudia, Bridget and Larry (who has been to China before and helped with so many things!) Hope to see you again, our lovely Zebras of Shanghai!
Xie xie & Zàijiàn! - 💓 Brady, Bridget, Claudia & Larry
Illustrations by Emily Balsley. Concert pics and video by Bridget Rymer. “Light of Love” concert video filmed and edited by Larry Eagle.
