In Which a Song and Dance is Experienced

One of the many wonderful things about the Sky Temple is that it sits in a giant park, and the parks of China are inhabited by many wonderful old people, who play instruments and dance.  

.Or do yoga, sometimes Tai Chi.

Or play Chinese chess.

Or carry crickets in little cages.  

Or gather in crowds with bands and sing.

There's a very green and almost deserted corner of the park in which the old musicians hall, where the musicians would practice for their ritual duties, is now a museum of music.  

These highly decorated lintel-esque architectural things for which I'm sure there is an actual name have flowers.  

Bells!  Which can be rung.  

Chimes!  Made of jade, and which cannot be rung.  

This is a conductor's wand.  Really.  

Hall of drums, which can be drummed! 

Metal tablets describing ritual dance moves.  

Stringed instrument things!

Stringed instrument thing with snakeskin!  

After the Sky Temple and museum, we took the scenic route back by paying some bajaj driver to take us somewhere interesting, which turned out to be a tour down several small, twisty old historic streets.  The driver showed us many fascinating things, like an old brothel now converted into a hotel.  Also, a one man opera show.  There is an old man in a little house with a wall covered with newspaper clippings of himself with important people and for a small fee he will perform.  For us, he presented three things.  First, a song about spring, playing accompaniment for himself on a snakeskin instrument like the one pictured above.  Second, a more chanted peasant song with accompaniment on cow bones with attached bells and streamers.  Finally, tongue twisters recited quickly with bamboo clappers.   I may love this man.  In fact, I may love all the old people of China.  

He asked me, when taking pictures, to include the sign above his
head, which is the name of his father, who began this one man opera.