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Anshun too, just like Beijing and Sichuan has its very own version of the art: ground opera. Called dixi in Chinese, ground, or ‘open-air’ opera, as it’s sometimes also known, dates back to the Ming dynasty. As part of the performance, actors wrap black see-through cloth over their foreheads and don traditional masks made from bamboo shoots. Up to 50 masks may be used in one opera. The colours of the masks are very symbolic: black denotes righteousness, red symbolises loyalty and bravery, while white indicates evil. Blue and green masks are reserved for monsters or particularly nasty bandits. Banners are also worn on the actors’ backs to denote rank, as in the Běijīng Opera. The operas originally served to drive out evil spirits but have merged with local religious dramas and Han classics such as the Romance of Three Kingdoms and History of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The plots are livened up by gongs, drums, stilts, flags and displays of martial arts to keep the audience’s mind from wandering during the slow bits.
关岭化石群国家地质公园
Centered around a geological formation known as the Guanling Formation, which is notable for its Triassic fossils. A number of these fossils are displayed at an on-site museum. The museum includes three excavation pits where you can see fossils in situ. There is even a site where visitors are permitted to dig for fossils on their own (though whether you would be allowed to keep them and take them out of the country is another matter).