22 | Friday, November 8, 2019 CHINA DAILY MOSAIC Gaining a ‘birdwatcher’seye view’ of the natural world
When my husband and I spotted There, I encountered a bird home, tracing a mountain creek gettable, or easily confused with lives and the feeling that, even in a dusky brown bird bobbing on a perched on a rock near the cascad that cut through the valley. others? Or had the birds, after years familiar territory, we could always rock in a stream not far from the ing waters, and my hunch was later This brown dipper, as if taking of seeking refuge in wilder and encounter something new. family home in rural Zhejiang, a confirmed in the pages of the North the stream as a stage, didn’t disap more remote streams, quietly So next time you’re out in a park, feeling of excite American bird guide in my back point with its performance. It reclaimed their place in the village the woods or even just a country ment swept pack: I had seen an American dip “danced” before us on the rock and as the local environment improved? side village, keep an eye open for through me. per. The sweat slathered across my then flew off in a dramatic flourish, Whatever the reason, their dis those feathered friends flitting “That’s a dipper, brow as well as sore feet and legs belting out a rhythmic series of covery sparked the formation of our about. With a little patience — and I’m certain of it!” I seemed a worthy tradeoff for a “bzzzzzzzt” calls that sounded like twoperson “Rural Zhejiang Bird luck — you too can experience the whispered in his glimpse of the only aquatic song raspy, but adorable, whistles. Jun’s watching Club”. transformative power of having a ear, prompting bird in North America and one camera, meanwhile, kept clicking Together, we remapped the entire “birdwatcher’seye view” of the Jocelyn him to reach for capable of “flying” underwater, as a away with such a singular focus, landscape of Jun’s village with fur world. Eikenburg the camera draped nature documentary on TV had A brown dipper. reflecting how much he had also ther sightings of birds new to one Second over his shoulder revealed. It didn’t count as a rare PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY embraced this charming little bird. or both of us, from the jewellike Contact the writer at Thoughts and snap a photo. sighting, since the dipper isn’t Why had Jun, who had long kingfisher and its rainbow of plum [email protected] The last time I endangered. where I grew up — all the more. known of my passion for bird age that shimmered in the sun to laid eyes on such a bird was in Still, the majesty of one of Ameri Never did I expect that, instead of watching, never mentioned the dip the nearly fourfoot wingspan of a Yosemite National Park, while ca’s most picturesque national spending hours on a strenuous hike pers in his hometown? The answer large owl that catapulted out of the Online trudging up switchbacks that rose parks framed the moment, leading up the granite cliffs of Yosemite, I surprised me — he hadn’t seen bushes and passed above our aston Scan the code 300 meters from the valley floor to me to cherish this bird — one not only needed to venture on a short them before. Had their drab, brown ished faces. Each sighting added a to hear an audio the top of Upper Yosemite Falls. native to the Cleveland, Ohio, region walk from my husband’s family plumage rendered the dippers for fresh layer of fascination to our version
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Sutra their last few days of life. When: Nov 8 and 9, 7:30 pm; Rather than receiving treat Nov 10, 2 pm ment, 19yearold Liu Bao Where: Shanghai International chooses to complete his bucket Dance Center list by doing things like giving a Few dance productions have concert, marrying his idol and made such an impact as Sutra. designing his own funeral. Since its premiere in early He hires a rebellious teenag 2008, the striking collaboration er, Yang Xiaoyu, who has previ between Belgian choreogra ously attempted suicide, to pher Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Brit help him. While keeping the ish sculptor Antony Gormley general structure of the original and 19 Buddhist monks from South Korean version, many the Shaolin Temple, has toured Chinese jokes are carefully the world, selling out to audien mixed into this version. ces in 33 countries. It’s a story of laughter, In Sutra, Cherkaoui explores instead of one of tears. the way that the monks, famous for their warrior skills, Le Nozze di Figaro relate spiritually to animals and (The Marriage of Figaro) the environment and how they When: Nov 2430, 7 pm blend faith and physical Where: National Center for the strength. He manages to break Performing Arts, Beijing down Eastern and Western per Le Nozze di Figaro is a comic ceptions of each other and opera in four acts composed in proves that martial arts are 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus poetry in motion. Mozart, with an Italian libretto Sutra, taken literally, is a rope written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It or thread that holds things premiered at the Burgtheater in together. Metaphorically, it is a Vienna in 1786. The National rule, or set of rules, also bind Center for the Performing Arts ing. In Buddhism, the term was in Beijing produced Le Nozze di originally given to the sermons Figaro in 2016. of the Buddha. It is a fantastic farce, contin uing the story of the characters Ghetto from Il Barbiere di Seviglia. The XINHUA When: Nov 9 and 10, 7 pm couple, Rosina and Count Where: Suzhou Poly Theater Almaviva, are established in A moment in time: Ghetto is a play by Israeli their estate near Seville, Spain. playwright Joshua Sobol about Count Almaviva has become Tunneling to progress the experiences of Jews in the an aggressive, manipulative Vilna Ghetto during Nazi occu womanizer, and Rosina, the Workers clear rocks after blasting in a tunnel for pation in World War II. countess, has become It is inspired by an actual despondent and upset about the Luanhe River Diversion Project in 1982. theater which operated in the the state of their relationship. Completed in 1983, the project directs water from ghetto from 1941 to 1943. It Figaro is now employed as tells the story of the ghetto Count Almaviva’s personal but the Luanhe River in eastern Hebei province to theater during the Lithuania ler, but the count is actively Tianjin, ending the port city’s reliance on the salty occupation. pursuing Figaro’s fiancee. The The theater responded to count keeps putting off the Haihe River for drinking water. However, 22 despair with song, satire and wedding, finding ways to delay workers lost their lives during the project. With criticism of the Nazi regime, their union, even on the day of proving that theater can pro their planned ceremony. the use of modern boring machines, tunneling has vide courage and hope even made advances in safety procedures, as seen in the amidst a time of atrocities. Sam Tsui: The Gold Jacket Tour photo (right) at a site in Yunnan province in May. When: Nov 29, 7:30 pm Hong Kong Ballet: Where: Shanghai Mao Livehouse The Great Gatsby Internet celebrity Sam Tsui When: Nov 15 and 16, 7:15 pm will begin The Gold Jacket Tour Where: Shanghai Oriental Art this month in support of his lat Center est album Trust and new single YANG ZONGYOU / XINHUA Created by artistic director Gold Jacket. Septime Webre, Hong Kong Tsui debuted his own social Ballet premiered The Great media channel in 2011 and was The newspaper and beyond Gatsby early this year. featured on Britney Spear’s Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, official website with the cover The Great Gatsby centers on an of the song Hold It Against Me. On our Sina Weibo On chinadaily.com.cn elusive millionaire called Jay Tsui is known for covering Gatsby. It presents a critical songs by popular artists includ Alipay opens to international travelers in China Culture: Smart Cinema survivors have died this year, tional boxing tournament — on portrait of the American dream ing Adele, Spears, Justin Tim From Tuesday, tourists visit launches in US according to the Memorial Hall Feb 2, organizers said on Tues through its portrayal of the berlake and many more. ing China were able to Smart Cinema, a movie screen of the Victims in the Nanjing day. The event will attract golden 1920s New York elite. By explor While studying at Yale Uni download and use mobile ing app backed by the country’s Massacre by Japanese Invaders. belt boxers from the World Box ing themes of wealth, class, versity, Tsui was able to utilize payment service Alipay top film regulator, officially The Nanjing Massacre took ing Organization, World Boxing love and idealism, the novel tools of the digital music age to during their trip. Visitors launched its North American place when Japanese troops Council, World Boxing Associa raises powerful questions about independently create a popular just need an overseas phone version in Los Angeles during captured the city on Dec 13, tion and International Boxing American ideas and society. channel and brand. number, a visa and their the 15th ChinaUS Film and TV 1937. Over six weeks, they killed Federation during Spring Festi bank card to sign up for Festival on Sunday. Currently, about 300,000 civilians and val. The event will be organized The Dawns Here Are Quiet La Petite Fille Aux Allumettes Alipay’s Tour Pass mini 17 movies are being screened unarmed soldiers. After the by Mission Hills Group. Bob When: Nov 29 and 30, 7:30 pm; (The Little Match Girl) program. They can top up in on the Smart Cinema US plat Japanese troops captured Nan Arum, CEO of Top Rank, Dec 1, 1 pm When: Dec 1, 7:30 pm increments of as much as 2,000 yuan ($285). Access to Tour form, including Looking Up, jing, Yang, then a 20yearold, announced that WBC and WBO Where: Shanghai City Theater Where: Beijing Exhibition Pass lasts three months, and then any leftover funds are refund Dying to Survive and Men on hid in an underground cave to lightwelterweight champion The St. Petersburg Master Theater ed automatically. Previously, visitors would need to have a local the Dragon. Unlike streaming escape, according to her testi Jose Ramirez will fight former skaya Theater in Russia will Based on a short story by mobile number and a Chinese bank account in order to sign up websites, Smart Cinema is like mony. The documents on the champion Viktor Postol. Tenniel bring The Dawns Here Are Danish poet and author Hans for the service. a theater in your pocket. Users massacre were listed by UNES Chu, vicechairman of Mission Quiet to Shanghai. Christian Andersen in 1845, the need to purchase an eticket to CO in the Memory of the World Hills Group, said the professional Based on Boris Vasilyev’s musical is about a dying child’s Liu Yifei on Hollywood’s emerging talent list watch a film at a scheduled Register in 2015. boxing competition can boost 1969 novel of the same name, it dreams and hope. Actress Liu Yifei is among Hollywood’s rising young stars, accord screening time. Gao Qunyao, tourism in Haikou. He added that tells the story of a senior ser It begins on a cold, snowy ing to the Next Gen Talent 2019 released by Hollywood Reporter, CEO of Smart China, said; it’s expected Super Bouts will geant in the Soviet Red Army winter night. A poor girl tries to an entertainment magazine in the United States. The annual list “Smart Cinema will bring the become a new addition to Spring and five female antiaircraft sell matches because she was offers a snapshot of Hollywood’s most prom latest Chinese theatrical releas Festival celebrations and attract gunners, who courageously ordered to do so by her father ising young actors. Last year, Walt Disney es to the North American audi visitors to the island. The event fight off invading German and he won’t allow her to return unveiled Liu as the heroine for the liveaction ence through the platform.” will be held in Haikou over the troops in 1942. home until all the matches are Mulan. Directed by Niki Caro with a March next three years. sold on pain of a beating. release date, Mulan is inspired by both the Society: Massacre My Bucket List She tries to warm her hands legendary Chinese ballad and the popular survivor passes away When: Nov 23, 8 pm by lighting the matches. After 1998 Disney animated film. It follows Hua Yang Guizhen, a Nanjing Massa Online Where: Guangxi Culture and lighting the last match, she Mulan, the young daughter of warrior Fa Online cre survivor, passed away on Sports: Haikou to host Scan to read Art Center, Nanning sees her dead grandmother Zhou, who impersonates a man to take her Scan to read Tuesday at the age of 102. Her top boxing event more on The Chinese version of musi whom she loved very much and father’s place during a Hun invasion and more on our death reduced the number of Haikou, Hainan province, will chinadaily. cal My Bucket List tells the sto who eventually takes her to becomes one of China’s greatest heroines. weibo page registered survivors to 81. Ten host Super Bouts — an interna com.cn ry of two young men during heaven.