Hello Everyone,
Welcome to my snazzy new blog spot!
I had a great time in October & November touring in China with Five Finger Rapids. We played at the 2010 Nanjing Jazz & World Music Festival which included performances in Nanjing & Sushou. It was exciting to arrive at the Shanghai Airport and hop on a bus full of musicians from all over the world. We met a lot of great people and I really loved getting to hang out with the Chinese students that spent the week looking out for us. While eating buffet food for days on end became a bit sickening, I admit that it was nice to have a really comfortable place to stay while we got over the jet lag and made our way to gigs. When the festival ended, two of the band headed back to Canada & two of us hopped on a train went to explore China! We went to Yangshuo & spent a few days biking along the Yulong River…. Eating oranges & gawking at the beautiful karst formations wondering how we managed to be surrounded by something so magnificent. The next part of the trip was spent exploring Yunnan province. Highlights were hiking up a mountain path to visit a Yi minority village, as well as being blessed by a Tibetan Lama in Shangri-la. I heard an orchestra in Lijiang comprised of traditional Chinese instruments that exist only in this one part of China because they were buried in the ground during the Cultural Revolution. I heard a song composed by a past Chinese Emperor with poetic words about his fears that the kingdom would fall.
I had a great time in October & November touring in China with Five Finger Rapids. We played at the 2010 Nanjing Jazz & World Music Festival which included performances in Nanjing & Sushou. It was exciting to arrive at the Shanghai Airport and hop on a bus full of musicians from all over the world. We met a lot of great people and I really loved getting to hang out with the Chinese students that spent the week looking out for us. While eating buffet food for days on end became a bit sickening, I admit that it was nice to have a really comfortable place to stay while we got over the jet lag and made our way to gigs. When the festival ended, two of the band headed back to Canada & two of us hopped on a train went to explore China! We went to Yangshuo & spent a few days biking along the Yulong River…. Eating oranges & gawking at the beautiful karst formations wondering how we managed to be surrounded by something so magnificent. The next part of the trip was spent exploring Yunnan province. Highlights were hiking up a mountain path to visit a Yi minority village, as well as being blessed by a Tibetan Lama in Shangri-la. I heard an orchestra in Lijiang comprised of traditional Chinese instruments that exist only in this one part of China because they were buried in the ground during the Cultural Revolution. I heard a song composed by a past Chinese Emperor with poetic words about his fears that the kingdom would fall.
It will be good to spend the winter in Whitehorse. Home Sweet Home is going back into the studio this month to complete our album. We are looking ahead to a busy spring/summer with more visits to Yukon schools as well as festival appearances.
Kate
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