new year's at the people's congress

I may not have guanxi (relationships/influence), but I know people who do. That's why I was invited to Chinese New Year celebration at the People's Congress Hall off of Tiananmen Square.

It was amazing.

This part of the year is the only time that the building is open to the public. It is a grand place. I'm sure I just saw a small portion of it, but it was mostly giant hallways with marble columns and floors.

Inside, there were a variety of things to do. In the main lobby, when you come in the door, there were two bouncy castles setup. The kids were in the lobby of the main legislative building of the CPC, jumping up and down to their hearts content. You could play ping pong against people I imagine were on the national team, and use an exercise bike to power video games as you played them.

There were puppet shows and comedians, and on the main stage, in a giant hall with 3 balconies, there were famous people singing folk songs. It's interesting to see such a focus on culture. I feel like there is no way that people would go to see folk songs sung in the States. I imagine...who is it nowadays?...[insert popstar here] singing Yankee Doodle Dandy to a crowd of thousands. I guess it's the depth of culture, but it's fairly impressive.

While people sang on stage, the audience, as usual, babbled like a brook. You could still hear the music, but I was surprised when a man sitting next to me asked to be quiet, as he couldn't hear the singing. I will easily grant I can be a bit loud at points, but we were in an auditorium with three thousand other people talking. Give me a break. Needless to say, however, I spoke much more quietly.

At the end of the night, I was excited to get back home. This working stuff is hard.