The Impression Sister Liu Sanjie show is so different from anything else I know of that it is difficult to describe. There have been two popular musical film versions of a story called Liu Sanjie, based on an old Chinese tale set amongst the Zhuang minority people in this part of China (now the Guangxi Autonomous Region).

Movie director Zhang Yimou (who also directed the 2002 film "Hero") took the music from Liu Sanjie and set a lavish electronic light show to it. The performance is in the "Shanshui Theatre", actually a natural outdoor theater next to the Li River near Yangshuo. The performance itself is on the water of the river, using boats, rafts and platforms to support the performers. A cast of about 500 local people wearing costumes of Zhuang, Miao and Yao tribes perform the elaborate show; among them are many who are fishermen by day. Behind them along the Li River are 12 karst peaks, which are at times illuminated by powerful colored lights. The performers themselves carry torches and remotely controlled flashlights at various times.

Since its inception in 2003 there are said to have been 1300 performances and over 5 million spectators (as of 2008). The average audience size is claimed to be about 10,000, and there is a huge crowd there on the night of our attendance, with traffic congestion to match. This is a truly awesome production, which would be quite impressive enough if it was performed on a stage, but to see it staged on the waters of a river is incredible. Our seats are not ideal, but I do my best to capture some photographic impressions of the show.