| On Friday 14th October 2005, 25 members of Stockbridge Pipe Band travelled the
5,600 miles (9000km) to Shanghai to participate in the 7th China Shanghai International
Arts Festival. Hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Shanghai Municipal
Government, the Festival lasts for a month and includes performances from over 65
participants from China and abroad. This was a mammoth undertaking for our Band, eight months in the making with more than 20 engagements and numerous fundraising events undertaken to fund the trip. Never before have we taken so many members so far across the globe to participate in such a prestigious event. | 
|
Friday 14th October
At 1:30 pm, and still not quite believing we were actually making the trip, we flew out of Edinburgh airport, bound for Shanghai. With a short stopover in Frankfurt, we then flew up over St Petersburg, across Russia, down over Mongolia, into northern China, and over Beijing to Shanghai. For the fact finders amongst you we were flying at 33,000 feet and travelling at about 920km/h, safely tucked up inside 350 tons of Lufthansa Boeing 747.
Saturday 15th October
Most of us awoke to the stunning sight of sunrise over the Gobi Desert and, with a beautiful clear sky, we had an excellent view of the barren landscape below as we flew over northern China.
| We touched down at Pudong Airport in the new district of Shanghai at 9:55am
local time and were met by our guides Phoenix and Henry. After collecting our luggage
and instruments we were then taken by coach to the CCECC Plaza Hotel in the north
of the city.
After lunch in the hotel restaurant and a good shower and rest, we were taken downtown to Xintiandi district, noted for its bars, shops and restaurants, before heading to the colonial Bund on the west bank of the Huangpu river. Shanghai is located to the south of the Yangtze river and the Huangpu river flows into the same delta as the Yangtze. Darkness came quickly, and after taking in the bright lights of the Pudong financial district across the river, we boarded a river boat for an evening tour. |  |
| Over several beers we cruised up and down the river, taking in sights such as the Oriental Pearl TV tower and the Jin Mao building which, at 421m high, is the world’s 5th tallest building. During the boat trip we also met the two other groups from Europe with whom we would be performing; Spielmanns-und Fanfarenzug Erolzheim from Germany and Sänklochfäger from Switzerland, both of whom are carnival bands. | 
|
The organisers of this Festival had the good sense to ensure we had a day or two to recover from the flight, so except for a short practice to ensure all instruments survived the journey we were free to sightsee and explore Shanghai.
| With a population of around 20 million people, Shanghai is a heaving metropolis and a full-on assault on the senses. Directly outside our hotel was a six-lane freeway bustling with taxis, local buses, bicycles and lorries, and 15 metres above this was another six-lane freeway taking traffic from the city centre to the northern districts. Taxis are the easiest and cheapest way to get around and within 10 minutes you can be anywhere in downtown Shanghai for as little as £2. Some people headed to the Bund to view the many different buildings from Shanghai’s colonial past and to watch the busy river traffic toiling up and down through the city, some took the West Bund Sightseeing Tunnel under the river to the Pudong financial district while others explored the antiques market and narrow streets of the Old City, bartering for a bargain Maoist souvenir or gazing in wonder at the many birds and insects for sale in the local markets. |  |
After dinner back at the hotel we headed out to the French Concession district to exchange our tales of the day over a few beers. In the true spirit of international jetsetting, we headed for the nearest Irish bar, a place called O’Malley’s, and after a good session most of us headed home. For those who didn’t it was a case of burning more than just the midnight oil as they danced the night away!!
Monday 17th October
| Monday morning was again free so after another spree of sightseeing, we had lunch at the hotel and got ready for the opening ceremony rehearsal. This took place at Century Square on Nanjing Road, a full four hours before the actual event. Although it admittedly involved a lot of hanging about it did give us a chance to witness some of the other acts as they warmed up. As night drew in, the bright neon lights of the city lit up, helping to set the scene for the evening’s events. A massive stage had been set up with an impressive lighting rig and sound system and Shanghai TV and Chinese TV cameras were located around the stage to broadcast the ceremony live across the country. Two huge plasma screens relayed the action onstage to the assembled crowd. Government ministers, foreign dignitaries and distinguished guests had pride of place in front of the stage with row upon row of seating for the invited audience and behind them the general public peered over the tops of their heads to see the stage. We had been informed that over 5,000 spectators would be watching live with a further million people viewing the ceremony on TV. | 
|
|
At 7pm prompt the ceremony began with a dazzling firework cascade before the first group took to the stage. We were on fifth and watched from the wings as the other groups performed.
| Finally it was our turn; the musical director gave us the nod and we marched out onto the huge stage and formed a semicircle to face the audience. As we played, we caught glimpses of ourselves on the huge plasma screens, the images transmitted from the TV cameras as they swung across the stage on booms. The intensity of the lighting, the crowd as far as the eye could see, the neon-lit cityscape, the cameras; we were finally here, in China, beaming out live to over a million Chinese homes across the country! | 
|
| And all too quickly, it was over and the crowd were applauding, waving banners and flags as we struck up and marched off stage. Everything was organised with clockwork precision and with over 20 acts to get through the ceremony lasted in excess of two hours. With acts such as a modern-day singing Genghis Khan, prehistoric straw men, several drumming groups including one with over 50 drummers on stage at the same time, various solo singers and groups, a fire-breathing dragon, children entertainers and a firework display, the night was a magical spectacle of music, dance and visuals that left us all open-mouthed with wonder. | 
|
| Still basking in the spectacle we’d witnessed the previous night, everyone was up and on the coach for 9am as we returned to the same venue for a morning performance. As we tuned up, a huge crowd hemmed us in, with people literally staring at us as we got ready to perform. Every move, every action was watched intently and it became almost an impossibility to tune the Band up for people crowding round! |  |
|
On stage, a smaller but similar line-up performed to about 1,000 people
and once the performances were finished, each of the three groups from abroad
were presented with a glass trophy to commemorate our participation in the Festival.
After lunch back at the hotel, the Germans, Swiss and ourselves were taken to the heart of the old city to perform in the Yuyuan Bazaar, which is actually a modern development in the style of the Ming Dynasty comprising small shops and boutiques selling souvenirs. |  |
| Our performance was on a stage set up in the large central square, surrounded by massive pavilions and halls. And once again, even as we stepped off the bus people stopped and gazed at us! When the pipers began tuning up individually people kept taking photos and stopping them to pose and the drummers too were drawing the same attention. Small children were thrust into our arms, whilst young teenagers crowded round for photos with their fingers waving the peace sign. Forming a circle was quite a task in this eager crowd and even then this didn’t stop people from stepping inside to take photos. We felt like truly international stars indeed! | 
|
Performances and photos complete, we then began the two hour journey to the Songjiang Industrial Park on the outskirts of the city to perform at the auditorium of the BYD Company Ltd. This journey gave a true sense of just how massive Shanghai is as we headed to the south-west corner of the city; we managed to get lost several times because the drivers had never been to this area before and even ran out of road at one point and proceeded along a single-lane dirt track!
| When we eventually arrived, we were taken to the factory canteen for a quick supper, but the presence of chickens’ feet amongst some of the servings may have put people off a bit! Once fed, we were taken to the factory’s auditorium. This massive hangar was capable of housing the 10,000 workers and as we entered and made our way down to take a seat at the front, we could barely conceive the number of people cheering at our presence. A quick count of the rows and seats led to an approximate guess of between 5,000 and 6,000 workers stretching as far back as the eye could see. | 
|
During this show we were treated to spectacular displays of traditional music and dance, including a traditional Chinese orchestra, before taking to the stage ourselves. After dinner back at the hotel, some of the band enjoyed a few beers in the hotel bar with members of the other groups and our Chinese guides.
Wednesday 19th October
| After yesterday’s full day of performing, we were all grateful for a morning off. Again, most of us headed to the various corners of the city on either sightseeing missions or souvenir hunts and with photos snapped and bargains bought, we all reconvened at the hotel before getting into kit and heading off to Nanhui District in the south-east of the city. | 
|
After a shorter journey than the night before, we arrived at Shaomeng seafood restaurant for an excellent evening meal. Then it was off into the darkness to the Sanzhao Community Centre in an area known as Xuanqiao for another outdoor stage show.
| On arrival, we tuned up and marched down a walled lane lit by red paper lanterns and into the crowded performance area. Again, a diverse display of Chinese music and dance acts was interspersed with performances from each of the European groups. The show finally ended with the Festival’s theme tune, and under a rain of paper confetti the appreciative audience dispersed. | 
|
| After an early night we were up for an early breakfast before jumping onto the coach and heading out for a 9:30am performance at Thumb Square in Huamulianyang, a sub-district of Pudong. This was an outdoor event in front of a local community audience along with several other traditional and modern Chinese acts we hadn’t seen before. | 
|
| Once the show was over it was back on the coach as we headed off across Shanghai to the Qingpu Secondary School. After lunch we joined other groups in performing in one of the school’s auditoriums. A sound system was set up onstage so we were able to use Glenn’s guitar to good effect and work through all the sets we’d been practising for such an occasion. It was great to be able to do more than the usual 15 – 20 minutes and put on a proper show, which was well received by the 2,000 student audience. | 
|
| Once all the groups had finished, we marched back across the campus, stopped for a quick photo shoot and jumped back on the coach. Back at the hotel a banquet was laid on for all the groups as this was our last night in Shanghai. The Pipe Major and Drum Sergeant were guests at the top table along with the Festival organisers and the local Minister for Culture, and after dinner a round of speeches preceded an exchange of gifts. | 
|
| Suitably merry, all three groups adjourned outside to the main entrance of the hotel for a jam session, much to the frustration of the hotel management and the amusement and curiosity of the local passers-by. After a half-hour medley of various hits, we moved inside to appease the staff and continued our celebration in the hotel bar, celebrating our Pipe Sergeant’s birthday and rounding things off with an über-ceilidh involving a jam-packed Orcadian Strip-the-Willow at breakneck speed | 
|
|
At 10am, we checked out and bid a fond farewell to the CCECC Plaza Hotel as we boarded our
coach. Our destination was Guangyang seafood restaurant in Pudong for lunch prior to our
last performance in Shanghai.
This took place at the showroom of the Yongda Automobile Co Ltd, and after only 10 minutes’ stage time, our performance as part of the 7th China Shanghai International Arts Festival was over. We then said our goodbyes to our guides, Henry and Jason, and met our new guide from Hangzhou, Liuliu, before setting off. | 
|
| Our sincere thanks to the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Shanghai Municipal Government for inviting us to participate in such a unique event and to the Festival’s Western Europe Co-ordinator Minghui Kong and her assistant Cathy Fang for looking after us so well.Plaza | 
|
A huge thank you and farewell to Henry and Jason, our two student guides, who were truly great companions during our stay, ever cheerful and enthusiastic!
Thanks to the CCECC Hotel for putting up with our music and merrymaking!
And thanks also to Jian who is based in Sheffield and was responsible for organising our attendance and liaising with Minghui.