Typhoon Brings Rain, Opera and More History

April 19: Typhoon Neoguri crept north from Hainan over night, and mariners south of Hong Kong filled Aberdeen Harbor.

Yesterday, a white card at the front desk of the apartment announced the No. 1 typhoon signal. This morning, when I left the building, it had upgraded to No. 3.

Typhoon Neoguri brought the earliest warning to Hong Kong since the No. 1 standby signal from Typhoon Violet on April 9, 1967.

Today, everyone scurries to escape the rain. Most carry umbrellas. The wind whips the umbrellas inside-out.

I wear a raincoat, but my pants aren’t protected. I appear at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum as if dipped in the ocean. The museum in Sha Tin hosts the Cantonese Opera Appreciation Class (organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board).




The guide is late, and he has to change from his wet clothes. Introduction, “My name is Paris.” He explains some of the motions that represent scene. Cantonese opera stage setting does not use props. He demonstrates the male singing voice at a normal pitch. Very pretty. He demonstrates the female singing voice, a high-pitched song. Wow. Paris says he performs opera. It shows. He explains that male and female roles are played by either sex, depending on the ability of the actor or actress’ voice. We watch a segment of performance in the museum theatre – a bride argues with the groom. Unfortunately for me, there are no subtitles.

Cantonese opera came to Hong Kong from Guangdong Province, just north of Hong Kong. The entertainment flourished in the city as Mao’s cultural revolutions suppressed Chinese opera elsewhere in China in the mid-20th century. Cantonese opera is one of many regional opera styles in China, and it combines elements of symbolic body language, kung fu, singing and dialogue.

The Hong Kong Heritage Museum is a great museum. A special exhibit on Canto-pop explains the regional pop music’s rise to prominence over Cantonese Opera. The exhibit on Cantonese opera is interesting. An exhibit on poster art, also nice. Unfortunately, I run out of time to view the ancient Chinese artifacts. Very disappointed, I head back into the rain.

Sewage drains overflow, like volcanoes erupting with water.