View of the Grand Stage at the Summer Palace in Beijing
The Qing Emperors were great appreciators of art and culture. The Summer Palace in Beijing, more often than not, reflects this passion of theirs. The Grand Stage is a structure inside the Summer Palace and as the name implies is a place where performances are held. This structure was built in the reign of Emperor Guangxu 光绪. It is a large three story building with a performance area at the ground floor. Interestingly enough the upper floors are also performance area, but this place specializes in Beijing opera.
Empress Point of View of the Grand Stage at the Summer Palace in Beijing
The Empress Cixi was a huge fan of Beijing opera and whenever she visits the Summer Palace, she would be watching Beijing opera performed at the grand stage. The seats are directly opposite the Grand Stage. There were three major stages for Beijing opera during the Qing dynasty and this stage was one of them. The other two are at the Forbidden City and the Mountain Resort at Chengde in Hebei province, both of which I eventually visited. Of the three the Grand Stage at the Summer Palace in Beijing is said to be the most important one.
At the time of my visit, there was a performance going on, somehow I always found it difficult to understand and appreciate these things, primarily because they use a peculiar type of Chinese to narrate it which is difficult for me to understand. The performance at that time wasn’t really Beijing opera though but some ladies performing a Chinese dance. I kind of pity the girls performing the dance since it was really cold that time and I don’t think the costumes provide them enough protection from the cold.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/SummerPalace.kmz} zoom=19]