I managed to leave Xiamen without the bag of mine containing my laptop, camera, agenda and information on where to go upon arrival in the city. It has worked out OK however and I found the visa office and have got two more bursts of 30 days authorised.
The city is quite interesting to study for my purposes as it is a mix of Chinese and British cultures, the result of which has a quite unique flavour. There are some subtle and not so subtle forms of segregation but there are also some attractive blendings and cultural hybrids. I managed to buy a book on Chinglish and also read some observations of English teachers in Hong Kong on common errors Cantonese speakers make, ‘I have curry hair’ being my favorite. I have been thinking through the performance’s form and the bi-lingual approach remains attractive but it needs to be integrated into the ideas on identities and needs to relate to some physical actions for it to really work. Easier said than done, but the simple fact that the form of a Zhonglish/Chinglish performance remains interesting and has genuine depth is encouraging. I will probably experiment with it for a performance I can do mid-February in Xiamen for the opening of the new CEAC gallery.
I just met up with an old school friend of mine who I have not seen for many years. He is now living and working here and writing philosphpy books in verse. He gave me one so I have my reading cut out for me.
Travel back threatened to get very messy due to Spring Festival here in China, the world’s biggest annual migration, but I finally found someone selling coach tickets from Shenzhen to Xiamen for tomorrow night. Without a reservation and going into peak travel time it could have meant getting stuck in Shenzhen an extra night or even more. The TV news here is reporting little else but this mass migration right now. I think it is going to be quite crazy in the coach station.
