Water Pavilion Stage
A water stage in a private mansion built in the Ming Wanli era (Fuzhou's only surviving private water stage); Min opera / pingshu storytelling performances
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- 09:00-17:00
- Ticket
- Included in combined ticket
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
A water stage in a private mansion built in the Ming Wanli era (Fuzhou's only surviving private water stage); Min opera / pingshu storytelling performances. The private stage of the Zheng family mansion in Yijin Fang, built during the Ming Wanli reign, stands over the water on four pillars rising above the ripples—the only surviving example of a private water stage in a Fuzhou mansion. In old times the owners listened to opera from the waterside pavilion, the sound carrying farther across the water—an elegance of "water acoustics" that left a tangible footnote in the history of garden opera. Today the stage regularly hosts Min opera excerpts and Fuzhou pingshu storytelling; with singing echoing through the water courtyard, audiences seated in rattan chairs by the pond can savor up close the fish-sauce-flavored ("shrimp-oil") Fuzhou dialect; when no performance is on, the stage's painted caisson ceiling and its reflection in the water are themselves one of the most beautiful photo spots in the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys.
Getting there: Yijin Fang
Photos
More in Fuzhou
- Three Lanes and Seven Alleys (Sanfang Qixiang)
"Museum of Ming and Qing architecture"—China's largest and best-preserved historic and cultural district: Yijin Fang / Wenru Fang / Guanglu Fang + Yangqiao Alley / Langguan Alley / Ta Alley / Huang Alley / Anmin Alley / Gong Alley / Jibi Alley
- Former Residence of Lin Juemin and Bing Xin
One courtyard, two famous figures ('Letter to My Wife' was written here)
- Former Residence of Yan Fu
Late-life home of Yan Fu, translator of 'Evolution and Ethics' (a Qing-dynasty flower hall), with displays of his "natural selection" manuscripts
- Nanhou Street (South Back Street)
The "central axis of lane culture," with time-honored shops for Shoushan stone carving, oil-paper umbrellas, and bodiless lacquerware; a chinaberry-tree streetscape
- Wuta (Black Pagoda) · Baita (White Pagoda)
The Tang-era "Jingguang Pagoda" (Wuta, stone octagonal seven-story) and Dingguang Pagoda (Baita, brick-built), Fuzhou's "Two Pagodas" landmarks facing each other from Yu Hill and Wu Hill (the "Three Hills and Two Pagodas" layout of the old city)
- Yantai Hill Historic District
A consular district of 17 nations after Fuzhou opened as a treaty port in 1844 (a "museum of international architecture"); Cangshan's old Western houses (Shicuo Church / former US Consulate site); artsy boutiques and coffee lanes (Librairie Avant-Garde at 2 Aiguo Road)