Mingling with the locals

Have you ever read the introduction to a Lonely Planet or another guide book and the author starts rambling about how their experiences living in the said city are just flourished with authentic cultural experiences everyday? For example, I remember reading in the Kyoto Lonely Planet about how the author wakes up every morning, strolls down the path of philosophy to contemplate his daily activities. Next, he heads downtown to share stories with the locals at the fish market. After having lunch and relaxing in the public bath he then sets out to watch Geishas walk by. The reality for the average traveler is far from the dreamy scenes created by our friends that write these books, but occasionally you can get a real taste as I found out yesterday.

While climbing the five flights of stairs to our walk up apartment I heard some blaring, screeching sound and I couldn't tell what it was or where it was coming from. When I got inside I opened up the window to have a listen. I could tell it was some sort of traditional music being blasted from the courtyard of the apartment building beside ours. Now, I'm usually not one for traditional music, especially the watered down acts that fill up Times Square and various other subway stations I've encountered in NYC. This being the guys from the Himalayas playing Celine Dion songs, or the Jamaican guy playing Mozart on his steel drum. But what I heard was not like anything I've heard before, which is sad, I know. It was loud, abrasive, melodic, free form music. I couldn't resist going down to have a closer look.

When I got there there were about four or five guys gathered around a table. They each had a different type of horn. I can't claim to have too much knowledge of horns, but they looked fairly unique, definitely old. I just hung out and an old lady smiled at me and kept directing me to go closer. Finally, I nudged in a little closer to where they were playing so that I could get a better view. As soon as they saw me their faces lit up and at least three people motioned for me to come over. They were clearly excited for me to be there, but it wasn't my intention to get too close, because after all, it was a little strange. They were all smoking cigarettes and drinking jasmine tea, which they continuously offered me as well as a wooden block instrument to join in on their little session. When I looked closer at their instruments I could see just how incredibly worn in their they were. They brought out all sorts of tiny little horns, changed the tips around, and even played tricks with cigarettes. My favorite part was when one of the guys just started screaming in this high pitched voice. It was hard to believe that this sound was coming from his mouth. I hung out with them for about an hour and I have to say that without a doubt this was much more interesting than anything else I've seen in Beijing so far. I managed to catch a bit on a cell phone video and I also snapped some shots with my camera.