A concert tour in China puts things into perspective. For example, a
two to three hour bus ride to the airport is the rule and not the
exception. Here in Suzhou, summery 38-40 degrees keep us indoors
whenever possible. The fact that, as a guest, you cannot sit on the
stairs in the hotel lobby (hotel employees chase you away immediately-
one must sit on the sofa). You cannot get into the Facebook website
because it's not accesible in this country. I bought a dress today,
but had to take size XXL (Chinese women are very dainty). These are
all just little examples of how things are different here than they
are in Basel. Get the picture?
After the aforesaid bus trip to Suzhou, there remained about two hours
between hotel check-in and leaving again for the concert. If any of
you mistake this trip for a paid vacation I beg to differ. I also
have to say that I experienced the hottest welcome ever when I got to
my hotel room, and I'm talking neither Fahrenheit nor Centigrade. The
check-in was well organized, so I took my key and scooted up to my
room. Aha, a corner room- good. I go into the room and think, "fine-
nice and big. But dark- were the curtains closed to keep the room
cooler?" As soon as I turned on the lights, I knew why: in the bed -
MY bed- a half-naked man was wrapped in the blanket and sleeping like
a stone. He hardly moved when the lights went on. The manager was very
reassuring when he gave me the key to my new room, saying, "I went up
to see- there's nobody in this bed." Frieda claims that the guy in the
bed was a welcome gift from the hotel.
After that the concert was an absolute anticlimax (sorry, I couldn't
resist). The concert hall in Suzhou is magnificent to look at,
situated dramatically on the waterfront. The interior, too, was also
very satisfying- another nice place to play and incentive for a good
concert.
This was the first time that we experienced a "typical" Chinese
audience- the kind that sits on their hands. After the Zwicker they
gave us polite applause, as well as after Tchaikovsky. Brahms may not
have fared much better if Mario hadn't pulled the flower trick -
throwing his bouquet to a selected lady-and the Strauss encore out of
his hat. The audience started warming up just as we were getting ready
for a cold beer. When Huang Mengla, with his violin, joined us in an
encore of a Chinese love song, success was garanteed.
Since we have to be on the bus again in five and a half hours for a
three hour ride to the airport, followed by a two hour flight to our
final port of call on this tour, Beijing, it's time to put out the
light. Time, too, is flying.
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