WATCHING A MUSICAL THEATRE IN XI'AN, CHINA

   4tH SEPTEMBER 2026    ~ The next activity in Xi'an after the historical tour of the Teracotta Army Complex was the musical theatre show. The title of the show was "The Legend of the Camel Bell". Only about three people of the group were not interested to watch the show.

Introduction session was something to do with traditional Chinese calligraphy painting.

Once the the lights of the hall were turned off, then the magic began. We were all impressed with the colourful and bright stage, and the high quality sound system made the experience unforgettable.

The Legend of the Camel Bell" is set against the backdrop of the Silk Road, recounting the thrilling experiences of camel caravans and the cultural exchanges among different nations. It serves as a vivid history lesson, bringing to life stories from the Silk Road thousands of years ago.

SOURCE: chinahighlights.com

From what I remember, there were two subplots. The first one was of a man leaving his lover to embark on the journey along the Silk Road, and was in the reunited with his love one. The other one was with a tragic ending. A son leaving his mother behind but was killed when he was attacked by ferocious wolves at one point along the way.

The stage rotated [or the seats moved] when there were changes of scenes. It was something like we have in Encore Melaka here but the one in Xi'an was much better.

The awesome element of the show was the presence of real live animals like the camels. The scene where there were angry wolves chasing and attacking the actors happened near the audience, in fact they were running along the aisles. We were just worried the worries would just jump and bite us instead.

 

It was worth the time and money spent. If you are in Xi'an and have any other activities, you should consider watching this theatre. I just checked and found out there are actually other shows at other venues as well.

I am about to upload a few of the videos recorded on YouTube as the files are too big to be uploaded direct in Blogspot. Will post the videos once they are ready.

[MY XI'AN TRIP MAIN PAGE]

THE LONDON MUSICAL CIRCUS IS IN TOWN

31st AUGUST 2018 ~ The London Musical Circus is here in Johor Bahru. This should be an opportunity that should not be missed. I only watched circus/acrobatic shows when I was on holiday abroad. The show was held at Capital City Johor Bahru, one of the newest malls in the city - so new not a single shop has started operating yet. There is a huge indoor auditorium on the 7th floor.You could also buy the tickets outside the theatre hall. You could drive your car up to the 7th floor and park there, to avoid the hassle of waiting for your turn to get into the lift.

I purchased the tickets online with the cost of RM45 for 2 Malaysian adults. Fortunately, Mr. Hamzah Hamdan, an ex-student of SMKTUN, was interested to watch the circus or else I would have to go on my own. 

people outside the studio/auditorium

The fun began at 8:30 p.m. sharp when the circus arena was filled with bright lights and loud music. One good thing, audience were allowed to take photos or record videos throughout the performance.

The whole thing was based on the concept of the recent blockbuster movie "The Greatest Showman". It was a musical kind of performance but they were also using a song from other soundtrack like "High School Musical".

The whole thing lasted for about 2 hours, including a 20-minute intermission cum toilet break in the middle of the show. So how was it? I must say it was fun and enjoyable and worth the RM20 spent. However, they have to do something about the sound system or the acoustics of the auditorium which was actually quite bad, especially if they are planning to do other shows here in the future. And if your plan to take your kids here, beware as they are selling toys, pop corn and syrup/chocolate-coated apples so make sure you bring extra money.

If you have the time and do not know how to spend it with your family, then you have an option now - especially when we will not know when will we be able to watch a circus in town again after this.