Adventures in the Forbidden City
It’s late Monday evening here in Beijing and I just returned to my hotel room from a “gala dinner” at the “Royal Palace of Forbidden City Taimiao Ancestral Temple“. Describing it as “incredibly cool” doesn’t do the event justice! (It was not only “cool”, it was downright freezing — it must have been about 20 degrees out and windy!)
One very interesting “only in China” experience to share: Lionel Richie was the night’s featured entertainment — rumor has it he was paid $700k to show up and play. I’ll mention that Richie showed up probably 30 minutes later than he should of — had he realized how the right would end, I think he’d have arrived earlier. The main reason his tardiness mattered is because the party was in an enclosed tent — similar to what you see used for outdoor weddings — which did a little to protect us from the elements, but it was objectively cold!
So I’m right up against the stage — literally in the front row — toward one of the sides and Richie warmed up with a couple of old “Commodores” songs before rolling out “Dancing on the Ceiling” followed by his classic, “Hello”. Off to our right, we noticed Richie’s producer mouthing “one more….one more” running his hand across his neck — the international symbol for “cut it off”. Apparently the authorities not so subtly asked that the band wrap up — literally it was about 11pm and he couldn’t have been more than 1/2 way through his set. Richie wrapped up with “All Night Long” and did the whole “good night, you’ve been great” thing expecting to come back for an encore….But it wasn’t to be….whether it was an imposed curfew, his YouTube references (remember, YouTube is blocked by censors here), or some other reason — the Chinese government can, and does, do anything it wants — the concert was over!
Monday morning began with a keynote address by General Colin Powell — he was awesome, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to shake hands and get my picture taken with a true American hero!
