On the way to Tibet last year, my girlfriend and I passed through Xining in the Qinghai province in northern China.
While exploring the streets one day we followed some music we heard into a tea house that was hidden under a bridge - when we went in some locals motioned for us to sit down and we were treated to an amazing traditional Chinese singing/story telling performance of some sort. At one point, an old man who we thought was just watching in the audience started some seriously cathartic sounding singing response to the female vocalist.. while he was "singing" the woman feigned wiping tears from her eyes to show that the old man, whose face we couldn't see, was crying. A truly unique cultural experience off the beaten path. Check it out...
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