Marvelous Millennium

Rangers, by nature, are independent people.  We like to do things our own way, on our own schedule.  Having guides on our trip has made us lose a little bit of our ranging freedom here in China.  Our schedule during Golden Week was completely planned for us, which sometimes meant we didn't even know where we were going!  Case in point: we knew we were going to visit Kaifeng, an ancient capital of China.  And that's all we knew!

With a current population of around 5 million people, Kaifeng is one of the Seven Ancient Capitals of China.  It is also a popular tourist destination.  Though we had guides, we knew nothing.  Neither, it seems, did they.  We asked what our plan was in Kaifeng our guides Sherry and Belinda answered, "There is a park and we will see a show with people wearing costumes."  Oh, well that explains everything!

Millennium City Park!  Like the bush says, it's the year of the dragon.

Turns out, through all the unknowns, we had one of the most amazing days!  Arriving at Millennium City Park in Kaifeng, we were engulfed by swarms of people, just three tourists in what the Chinese refer to as a "mountain of people."  A theme park, Millennium City Park is based on an idyllic painting representing the history of the Song Dynasty.  At first, we thought the park was a cheesy tourist destination, with sights and activities seemingly thrown together at random.

Upon entering the park, we felt we suffered from a slight case of traveler's ennui.  Rather than give into that feeling, we reached deep and found our second traveler's wind instead.  With restored aplomb, we dove head first into the sea of people and became true tourists. When we saw merchants dressed in old traditional Chinese clothes, hawking their wares of sugar art, plastic swords, and 100% silk-feeling polyester, we stared, transfixed.  Like listening to the Pied Piper, we followed loud music and crowds to a dragon dance and ensuing street fight (staged, naturally).  The fight represented a Hatfield/McCoy-type family brawl, and FYI, the women won.

Megan expressed her inner six-year old several times. 

Is this a giant man or a teeny umbrella?

Emily's new rattail also doubles as a mustache.

Still unsure exactly where we were and what we were experiencing, we ate up the frivolity of the theme park.  A fire-breather shooting 20-foot flames? Check.  Acrobats on horseback?  Heck, yeah!  A costumed monkey riding a sheep pulling a cart of children?  Done and done!  Whatever happened during the Song Dynasty, it must have been nothing short of a daily carnival!

Pretty sure the fire breather didn't have any eyebrows.

A monkey.  In a costume.  On a sheep.  Pulling a wagon.

With giddy child-like attitudes, we had such a fun time!  But as our enthusiasm and blood-sugar levels dropped, we left for dinner, knowing we'd be back to Millennium City Park for some sort of nighttime show with costumes.  Full on Kaifeng kuisine, our guides ushered us back to MCP's amphitheater.  The day's hubbub gone, the park deserted, we followed the crowd until we were ushered away from the other show-goers, and directed to the "Throne Room." Whaaaat?  With top-row seats, the Throne Room is for VIPs.  We are but peasants among royalty and do not deserve this treatment!  But, hey, it comes with free water and dried peas.

Please don't be the toilet!

Millennium City Park by night.

Taking our seats, we looked across the show's 'stage', really a large pond, and felt the energy that indicated something special was about to happen.  This show, at a place hours earlier we were clueless about, was nothing short of mind-blowing superlatives at work. Lights! Music!  Horses and boats.  Camels and fireworks.  Set against a backdrop that during the day seemed random, this musical play used the park to help retell the history of the Song Dynasty.  The words of the music, unclear to our American ears.  The music, exciting and tragic.  The lights and effects, epic and shiny.  The experience, unreal and unexpected.  During the finale we all wondered why it had to end. Couldn't we watch it again?  We were guests in the Throne Room, after all!

The banner for the Song Dynasty.

Horses, boats, neon.  Oh yeah!

On this boat rides a bathing, opera-singing concubine.  Or something like that.  We might have missed a translation somewhere along the way.

We don't know the full story of the Song Dynasty, but some raiders set the palace on fire during the show.

On a day that started with dreams of our ranger independence, we realized nothing in our dreams could prepare us for this ultimate experience.  The Song Dynasty has nothing on modern-day Kaifeng! And really, who needs a monkey riding a sheep, anyway?