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Xi’an travel archive — 2014. This is our firsthand memory of a shadow puppet performance and tea tasting at Gao Grand Courtyard. It tells the story of what we found during our visit, rather than offering today’s performance times or ticket arrangements. For wider sightseeing and present-day context, see our Xi’an attractions guide and Muslim Quarter food and walking guide.
Our 2014 Xi’an performances are a snapshot of an earlier China. For a contrast with how we travel there now, see our newer experiences across modern China.
Our Evening at Gao Grand Courtyard Begins
We ended up at the shadow puppet show by little more than a coin toss. Our other option was a massage by blind masseurs, but I reckon we chose well. Tucked inside Gao Grand Courtyard in Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter, the performance became an excuse to escape the surrounding mayhem and explore a wonderfully eerie old house. We hadn’t expected to find such a quiet corner of the city.
Gao Grand Courtyard felt like a beautifully preserved glimpse of an older, wealthier Xi’an. Once home to Gao Yuesong’s family, the complex had roots in the late Ming dynasty. We wandered through the dark passageways beneath red lanterns and found hardly another visitor. With so many rooms and stairways, getting lost was half the fun. The courtyard was especially atmospheric after dark.
For more from the same trip, see our guide to the top attractions in Xi’an.
For the food stalls and surrounding lanes, see our Xi’an Muslim Quarter guide.
Finding the Shadow Puppet Show
We were still wandering around, apparently alone in the courtyard, when a woman hurried past speaking Chinese. We followed her through a curtained doorway and suddenly found ourselves in a tiny room where the seats were filling and the shadow puppet show was about to begin. Nearby hung rather disturbing puppets: Monkey, a witch, a monk and a pig, the characters of that night’s performance of Journey to the West.
I had no idea what was happening onstage, especially without subtitles. Luckily Fanfan recognised the tale from Chinese stories familiar in Thailand and talked me through it. Journey to the West followed a Tang-dynasty monk and his companions, including Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy, on an adventure full of demons and trouble.
Trying to Follow Journey to the West
As I understood it, Monkey beat the hell out of a demon disguised as a young woman. The demon returned disguised as her mother, and Monkey beat the hell out of her too.
Then the demon returned looking like the girl’s father, and Monkey did it again. Understandably, the monk thought Monkey was attacking innocent people and sent him away. Without Monkey to spot the disguises, the monk ended up captured by the Yellow Robe Demon.
Pigsy went looking for Monkey, who returned to rescue the monk, and the group carried on with its journey. That was my slightly irreverent understanding of the story, anyway.
For a less mangled explanation, see Full version on Wikipedia. I also pieced together some of our video footage below. The shadow puppet performance we watched lasted around ten minutes.
Our Quiet Evening in the Tea Room
I was one of those rare Brits who didn’t much enjoy drinking tea, yet tea in China fascinated me. The flavours, preparation and the whole ritual of sitting in a tea room felt strangely beautiful. We’d previously been dragged into a touristy tea demonstration in Beijing, complete with a hard sell, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect this time.
This tea room was refreshingly different. It was quiet, homely and, on that evening, entirely free of other tourists. We were the only visitors.
The host welcomed us to a table and offered us two samples, with a third tea of our choosing. We tried Ginseng Oolong, Lychee Concubine and Bitterness Sweetness Tea. To me, these Chinese teas tasted fruity and floral, a world away from the English Breakfast tea I’d grown to loathe.
Where We Found Gao Grand Courtyard
We found the shadow puppet show at Gao Grand Courtyard on Beiyuanmen Street in Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter. On our visit, we approached from the Bell Tower, walked towards the Drum Tower and entered the busy street behind it. The courtyard was on the left about halfway along. This was the route we followed back then, rather than present-day directions.
The photographs below show the Drum Tower and Beiyuanmen Street as we saw them. For the surrounding area, see Check here for travel and transport in Xian.
Travel archive: 2014.