Face Changing

Andrew & Sally's last night with us so we took them to Hua Jia Yi Yuan for good Szechuan food and some Face Changing. Bian Lian, as it's known in Chinese, is a traditional dramatic art which originated in Sichuan Opera and is unique to China. A male performer, wearing colourful Chinese opera clothes and masks, struts his stuff and then, at key moments, as if by magic, changes his mask. It's done instantly, with slight of hand or swipe of fan, so you simply don't notice. It's extraordinary really. I think it's some kind of super-thin material which you can pull down but the technique is astonishing - and it's multiple masks. You can see a good video here. Andrew & Sally were impressed.