Of music, parades and performances De música, desfiles e espectáculos 音乐、游行和表演

Hi everyone, this is Owen and this is my podcast for Friday 9th October, 2015. I hope you are all well. Before we get started, I'd just like to mention that we now offer a vocabulary trainer on our website and on the app. The vocabulary trainer will help you learn new words from the podcast. The new words will automatically be imported into the vocabulary trainer for you to practice and learn. The weather in Kunming has been horrible for the last two months. I have never seen so much rain in my life. But they say it's good for Yunnan. Apparently the last years have been a bit dry. Aparentemente, os últimos anos têm sido um pouco secos. Unfortunately for our visitors from Switzerland the weather was a bit rubbish [1]. Infelizmente para os nossos visitantes da Suíça, o tempo estava um pouco mau [1]. We are keeping our fingers crossed [2] that the weather will be better for our next visitor. The next visitor will be Vittoria's mother. She's never been to China before. We're a little nervous and I think she's a little nervous too. We're sure she'll have a great time, though, as long as she doesn't forget to bring plastic forks with her. Mas temos a certeza de que ela se vai divertir imenso, desde que não se esqueça de trazer garfos de plástico. Otherwise she might get a little angry and hungry, trying to eat with chopsticks [3]. Caso contrário, ela pode ficar um pouco zangada e com fome, tentando comer com pauzinhos [3]. She's going to be here for the National Holiday. The three of us are going to travel around Yunnan a little before Vittoria and her mum visit Beijing. I plan to explore the north of Laos for a few days instead. Em vez disso, tenciono explorar o norte do Laos durante alguns dias. Today, I'll be talking about a music festival, September the 3rd and a tourist attraction.

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You might remember me talking about a lake a while back. Talvez se lembrem de eu ter falado de um lago há algum tempo. I spoke about this lake because I cycled around it one weekend. Falei deste lago porque o contornei de bicicleta num fim de semana. It's a beautiful lake a couple of hours south of Kunming. Vittoria and I went back there two weeks ago for a two-day musical festival on the shores of the lake. We only heard about this festival a couple of days before. The line-up [4] of the festival didn't particularly interest us, but we thought it would be nice to get away for a weekend, camp on the lake and also go for a swim. O cartaz [4] do festival não nos interessava particularmente, mas pensámos que seria bom passar um fim de semana fora, acampar no lago e também dar um mergulho. However, we faced [5] two small problems. The first was a dog. We've been looking after a friend's dog. Temos estado a tomar conta do cão de um amigo. The second problem was my work schedule. The dog was a problem because dogs are not allowed on buses. Luckily this dog is pretty small, so we bought a little dog carrier to put her inside. Felizmente, este cão é bastante pequeno, pelo que comprámos uma pequena transportadora para o colocar lá dentro. But then when we got to the bus station, there was a security check where all bags had to be put through an X-ray machine [6]. Mas depois, quando chegámos à estação de autocarros, havia um controlo de segurança em que todos os sacos tinham de passar por uma máquina de raios X [6]. We hope she'll be fine. Esperamos que ela fique bem. Regarding my work schedule, the problem was that I was supposed to work that weekend. I tried my best to find somebody to cover for [7] me. Tentei o meu melhor para encontrar alguém que me substituísse [7]. In the end I had to call in sick [8]. No final, tive de pedir baixa [8]. I felt a little guilty but I put it behind me and just thought about a nice swim in the lake. Senti-me um pouco culpada, mas deixei isso para trás e pensei apenas num bom mergulho no lago. But then the moment we arrived at the festival, who did I bump into [9]? Mas, no momento em que chegámos ao festival, quem é que eu encontrei [9]? A colleague. Of course. Although that was rather unfortunate, it was also an incentive to have an awesome [10] time. Embora isso fosse bastante lamentável, era também um incentivo para nos divertirmos imenso [10]. 尽管这很不幸，但这也是度过一段美好时光的一个动力。[10] If I was going to lose my job and my friend's dog over this festival, then I'd better have a very memorable time. Se eu ia perder o meu emprego e o cão do meu amigo por causa deste festival, então era bom que me divertisse imenso. 如果我因为这个节日而失去工作和朋友的狗，那么我最好度过一段难忘的时光。 We immediately made our way to the camping area. Dirigimo-nos imediatamente para a zona de campismo. The festival was in a little bay where there's a big artificial sand beach. O festival realizou-se numa pequena baía onde existe uma grande praia de areia artificial. To our horror, though, the camping area was not on the beach but on the hard concrete parking lot. Para nosso horror, porém, a área de campismo não era na praia, mas no parque de estacionamento de betão duro. I guess we didn't read the information about the festival very carefully because all the campers had blow-up mattresses to sleep on, whereas Vittoria and I only had our sleeping bags. Acho que não lemos bem as informações sobre o festival, porque todos os campistas tinham colchões insufláveis para dormir, enquanto eu e a Vittoria só tínhamos os nossos sacos-cama. Looking at the soft sand beach and all the tents on the hard parking lot, all we could say was: “This is so China!”. Olhando para a praia de areia macia e para todas as tendas no parque de estacionamento duro, tudo o que podíamos dizer era: "Isto é tão China!". 看着松软的沙滩和坚硬的停车场上的帐篷，我们只能说：“这太中国了！” It's just that they don't seem to get these things right over here. É que parece que eles não acertam nestas coisas por cá. 只是他们似乎没有正确理解这些事情。 Despite our frustration we stayed optimistic. After all, we were not going to sleep much anyway. Afinal de contas, não íamos dormir muito. The sound was good, there was a nice crowd of people, the music was varied, the food was, well, very Chinese, our little dog had lots of fun and we got to swim in the lake. O som era bom, havia uma boa multidão de pessoas, a música era variada, a comida era, bem, muito chinesa, o nosso cãozinho divertiu-se imenso e pudemos nadar no lago. It was a fabulous two days in the sun. 这是在阳光下度过的美妙的两天。 We were fortunate with the weather. It couldn't have been better. When we got home we were surprised that we both looked quite tanned [11]. Two days in the sun and water and we looked recuperated [12] and healthy. Dois dias ao sol e à água e parecíamos recuperados [12] e saudáveis. After supposedly spending the weekend sick in bed, I wasn't yet sure how to explain my tan to my colleagues. Luckily I didn't have to. I got a few funny looks but I still have my job. Recebi alguns olhares estranhos, mas continuo a ter o meu emprego.

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We were recently hosts to a couple of friends from Switzerland. They are currently on a six-month trip around Asia. Atualmente, estão a fazer uma viagem de seis meses pela Ásia. They travelled up to Kunming from Laos before flying to Nepal. They arrived in Kunming at the beginning of September. They were a little shocked because the bus from Laos to Kunming was stopped three times by the Chinese military. Each time they demanded to see everybody's identification cards or passports. I've travelled that route myself a few times and never was my bus stopped by the military. However, maybe the reason why their bus got checked was because they arrived a couple of days before a big and important public holiday. The whole of China had three days off in order to commemorate [13] the victory over Japan in the 2nd World War. Toda a China teve três dias de férias para comemorar [13] a vitória sobre o Japão na Segunda Guerra Mundial. It was the 70th anniversary this year. For the past years that I have lived in China, we didn't get any days off on September 3rd. 我在中国生活的这几年，9 月 3 日都没有休息日。 This year was a little different. For the first time, a huge military parade was held in Beijing. Pela primeira vez, realizou-se em Pequim uma grande parada militar. In the past they have held military parades on China's National Day, which is October the 1st, but never before on September the 3rd. On the road which separates Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, the Chinese military - the People's Liberation Army - showed off their power. Na estrada que separa a Praça de Tiananmen da Cidade Proibida, os militares chineses - o Exército Popular de Libertação - mostraram o seu poder. It was a parade of remarkable size. Foi um desfile de dimensões notáveis. The Chinese airforce also participated, so the authorities decided to close the Beijing international airport for the day as a security measure [14]. It's the busiest airport in China and they just closed it for a day. É o aeroporto mais movimentado da China e fecharam-no por um dia. Unbelievable! When I asked my local friends about the parade, they didn't think it was strange to hold a huge military parade to celebrate the end of Japan's occupation [15] of China. Quando perguntei aos meus amigos locais sobre o desfile, eles não acharam estranho a realização de um grande desfile militar para celebrar o fim da ocupação japonesa [15] da China. Quite the opposite in fact: it made them very proud of their country. Muito pelo contrário: sentiram-se muito orgulhosos do seu país. They saw the parade as a clear message that China is now able to defend its own borders and that China will not be occupied again in the future. Personally I perceived [16] the parade as a lesson in nationalism on the one hand. And on the other hand there was a clear political message involved. Since the new president Xi Jinping came to power, he has made many enemies [17] inside the Communist Party by targeting [18] corrupt officials. Desde que o novo presidente Xi Jinping chegou ao poder, fez muitos inimigos [17] dentro do Partido Comunista ao atacar [18] funcionários corruptos. He initiated a huge campaign against corruption which has resulted in many officials ending up in prison. The parade gave him a great platform to show the country that he is now in charge, not only of the country but also of the military. O desfile deu-lhe uma grande plataforma para mostrar ao país que agora é ele quem manda, não só no país mas também nas forças armadas. Pictures of Xi Jinping standing next to Jiang Zemin at the parade were shared a lot on Chinese social media sites. As fotografias de Xi Jinping ao lado de Jiang Zemin no desfile foram muito partilhadas nas redes sociais chinesas. Although politics in China is still very secretive [19], it is no secret that the president and the former president are each other's biggest enemies. Embora a política na China continue a ser muito secreta [19], não é segredo que o Presidente e o antigo Presidente são os maiores inimigos um do outro. Most of the time, however, it's very hard to know what exactly goes on inside the Communist Party and which rumours and theories to believe. They all sound crazy yet believable. Todos eles parecem loucos mas credíveis. 这些听起来都很疯狂但却令人信服。

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So our next guest will be Vittoria's mother. It was around this time last year we had a few friends visiting from Beijing. One of them was very keen to visit a tourist attraction, which has made Kunming quite well known in the past, for the wrong reasons. Um deles estava muito interessado em visitar uma atração turística, que tornou Kunming bastante conhecida no passado, pelas razões erradas. Translated into English it's called the Dwarf Empire, also known as the Kingdom of the Little People. Traduzido para inglês, chama-se Dwarf Empire, também conhecido como o Reino dos Pequenos. It's an attraction, I imagine, you wouldn't find anywhere else in the world. It's a sort of theme park which is managed and staffed by little people. Trata-se de uma espécie de parque temático gerido e animado por pessoas pequenas. It's in the countryside outside of Kunming. They built lots of small houses, shaped like mushrooms for the staff, which are below a big fortress on top of the hill. Construíram muitas casas pequenas, em forma de cogumelos, para os funcionários, que se encontram por baixo de uma grande fortaleza no cimo da colina. Twice a day all the staff perform for the guests. From their houses they walk down many steps onto a big stage. Das suas casas, descem vários degraus até um grande palco. They are all dressed up in colourful costumes with one of them dressed as an emperor. The show consists of a lot of singing and dancing. O espetáculo consiste em muito canto e dança. There was also a tightrope walker [20], though strangely he was the only member who wasn't a dwarf. Havia também um equilibrista [20], embora estranhamente fosse o único membro que não era um anão. Thankfully, Vittoria's mother, no doubt, will not want to visit it. Felizmente, a mãe de Vittoria, sem dúvida, não vai querer visitá-la.

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Now I must thank Kaethi for her comment and cake recommendation. Kaethi recommends a “Mississippi Cake”. I checked the recipe and it sounded very familiar. Then I realised that my mum used to bake it for us. It's indeed a great cake. It's very chocolatey and it has Schoggistängeli inside. As a child it was always one of my favourites! I would love to bake it but unfortunately I can't get any Schoggistängeli in Kunming. I don't think I can even find something to substitute [21] the Schoggistängeli with. Nevertheless, thank you Kaethi for the recommendation, it brought back very fond memories. If anyone else has a cake recipe they would like to share, then please write a comment below. As I mentioned I'll be going on a short holiday this month. Como já referi, vou fazer umas pequenas férias este mês. I'll tell you about it in my next podcast, which you can listen to as always by visiting our website www.podclub.ch or by downloading our app. In two weeks time Gerry will be back. My next podcast will be on November the 6th. Until then I wish you all a very pleasant month! Thank you for listening and goodbye!

Glossaire: Owen in China [1] rubbish: here: not very good

[2] to keep one's fingers crossed for something: to hope or to wish for something

[3] chopsticks: two sticks used to eat in East Asia, instead of a knife and fork

[4] line-up: here: the musicians who were going to play

[5] to face: here: to have

[6] X-ray machine: a machine used at airports to look inside a bag

[7] to cover for someone: here: to do somebody else's work

[8] to call in sick: to call your boss to say you cannot work because you are unwell

[9] to bump into someone: to meet someone you know without planning it

[10] awesome: here: extremely good

[11] tanned: brown from the sun

[12] recuperated: here: improved health

[13] to commemorate: to remember officially and give respect to a person or event

[14] security measure: an action that is meant to make things safer

[15] occupation: here: the action of entering and taking control of China by the Japanese

[16] to perceive: here: to interpret

[17] enemy: a person who is against you

[18] to target: here: to go after

[19] secretive: not sharing all information

[20] tightrope walker: a person who balances and walks on rope

[21] to substitute: to use in place of something else