Wilder than Paris Hilton's Party!

June 15th of the Chinese lunar calendar is the birthday of the divine spirit(God as the locals will say) of the village of "Nan Zhou(南洲村)". The divine spirit is the protector of the Nan Zhou village, where my grandparents live, and those who reside in it. Therefore, the birthday celebration is one of the major events of the village annually.

Every three years, there will be a special celebration when there will be a lot more and elaborate ceremonies. However, last year happened to be one of those celebrations, so we only get the "normal" version this year.

The celebration technically starts about 3 days before and ends 3 days after the birthday, which is on the 28th of July by the solar calendar. Donations from the villagers were used to hire Taiwanese Opera performers as well as Puppet shows as entertainment for the divine spirit and his soldiers. Yes, those shows are not for the villagers although we very much enjoy the service as well. This is very common in Taiwan, especially in the southern part of the island where people generally are more devoted to worship local diving spirits. It also helps to sustain the dying industry of traditional performance art such as the Taiwanese Opera and Puppet shows.

Day One

So I arrived on scene on the 27th evening, just in time to catch the Taiwanese Opera and the puppet show. Both the opera and the puppet shows will play for several days, from 3pm to 10pm daily in this hot and humid summer. There are typically two different shows for the opera separated by a dinner break. Even though this isn't a very elaborate version of Taiwanese Opera, one can certainly appreciate their efforts in bringing entertainment to both the spiritual and mortal.


( Getting ready to set up for the main event )





Opera









Below the stage was a stall that was selling a traditional candy. The candy maker will put a stick on a metal plate and then drip molten candy onto the plate, making graphics of various characters like dragon and animals. As the candy cools and harden, it attaches itself onto the stick. It's not just a candy, watching the candy maker create the art form itself is quite an experience.





The temple which houses the divine spirit is like the center of the village where everything takes place. Everyone hangs out here, the old, the young and everyone in between.

Back stage of the puppet: Puppet master in action!



Mobile Taiwanese Opera performers isn't an easy job. Many of such groups are families and I remembered seeing moms having to take care of their infant kids at the back stage whenever they are not on the front performing. Life is tough.



Here's a video of the back stage



As night fall, the shows became more "exciting" and more audience turned out... still a bit of ways from a full house, but it's a good sign none the less.









OMG SPECIAL EFFECTS!!!