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If you are visiting Yangshuo in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, you must not miss the musical performance of ‘Liu Sanjie’ that is performed at night on the river at the junction of the Li and Tianjie Rivers. It is an impressive sound and light show that features hundreds of performers on bamboo boats enacting scenes telling stories from the life of the legendary Zhuang folk singer Liu Sanjie.

A 2,500-seat amphitheatre overlooking the river, and surrounded by mountains, provides a spectacular setting for the performance. The mountains – some of which are more than 2 km away - are lit up by powerful spotlights during parts of the show, creating an atmosphere that could never be replicated in an indoor theatre.

The show is hard to photograph because of the distance from the performers and the relatively low light (the amphitheatre is in complete darkness during the performance) but this shot of one of the scenes may give you a feel of the atmosphere. I have posted a shot from one of the other scenes in the workshop.

The show is given the unexciting title of “Liu: A Realistic Performance with Landscape in Guilin” on posters promoting it in shop windows in Yangshuo, but don’t let this put you off going – it is an experience not to be missed. It is directed by the famous Chinese film director, Zhang Yimou.

The show has been performed nearly every day since August 2003 (and is usually sold out) and I read in the China Daily a few months ago that Zhang Yimou was planning to stage a similar show in Lijiang City in Yunnan Province.

I found the following information about Liu Sanjie on the website of the University of West Kentucky of all places!

“The Zhuang people believe that the legendary Liu Sanjie actually existed. Her original name is said to be Liu Shanhua. Since she was the third child of her family, she was given the nickname of ‘Liu Sanjie’ meaning ‘Sister No. 3 of the Liu Family’. An incarnation of a lark, as the Zhuang people so believe, Sanjie started speaking eloquently when she was only one. At the age of three, she already had a melodious voice. In her teens, she was regarded as the top singer of folk songs - songs in an antiphonal style, typical of the ethnic people in South China. Coveting her beauty and talent, a local tyrant named Mo Huairen wanted to have her as his concubine. Rejected, the angry Mo plotted to murder her. With the help of her boy friend and fellow villagers, she managed to escape. The two lovers traveled as they sang, and eventually found their ultimate freedom by turning themselves into a pair of larks.”

Handheld telephoto (120mm) at 1/15sec at 800 ISO and then increased brightness and contrast in Photoshop.