Notes on a Visit to Nagasaki by Beijing Yuying Beiman Alumni Specialists Chorus

At the invitation of the Nagasaki Municipal Government， the Nagasaki International Tourism and Convention Association and the Executive Committee of Madame Butterfly International Concours in Nagasaki， a 66-member delegation of the Beijing Yuying Beiman Alumni Specialists Chorus (organized and sent by the CPAFFC) visited Japan from October 21 to 29， 2011.

There， it visited the Exhibition on Sun Yat-sen and Shokichi Umeya* in Nagasaki， watched the final of the Fourth Madame Butterfly International Concours and held a concert jointly with the local Cho- ruses.

The Beijing Yuying Beiman Alumni Specialists Chorus， founded in 1995， is mainly composed of alumni graduating in the 1950s from the Yuying Middle School and the Beiman Middle School (currently the Beijing No. 25 Middle School and the Beijing No. 166 Middle School). Over the past decade or so， the Chorus has rehearsed around one hundred Chinese and foreign songs， given over 60 public performances， and visited the United States and Germany. In 2002， the Chorus won the Golden Award of the Third Sunset Glow National Elderly Choral Competition hosted by the CCTV and in the same year gained third place in the Sixth China International Chorus Festival sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and first place in the Beijing “Everbright Cup” Choral Competition.

When visiting Nagasaki the average age of the members of the delegation was 67 with the eldest being 80.

Nagasaki is a beautiful port city open to the outside world. During the period when Japan adopted the sakoku (close-door) policy， this was the only port in Japan allowing entry to foreign ships. This left the city with many buildings of European styles. It is the nearest Japanese city to China， only 800 kilometers from Shanghai. Since ancient times， it has kept close contacts with China and has served as a bridge for the exchanges between the two countries.

Today there are many Chinese descendants and overseas Chinese living harmoniously with local people. Nagasaki Shichi Chinatown is one of the three largest such areas in Japan where lively and grand celebrations of the Chinese Spring Festival are held from the first to the 15th of the lunar New Year.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of China’s 1911 Revolution， Nagasaki held a series of commemorative activities， one of which was the “Exhibition on Sun Yat-sen and Shokichi Umeya in Nagasaki” held in the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture. The exhibition displayed a great number of objects showing the close contacts and great friendship between Dr. Sun and Umeya， a native of Nagasaki， over one hundred years ago. The bronze statues of Sun Yan-sen， Shokichi Um- eya and his wife presented by China stand at the entrance of the exhibition.

Li Wenliang， Chinese Consul General in Nagasaki， personally did the interpretation for the members of the delegation. They visited the exhibition with great interest， taking notes and asking the Consul General questions from time to time. The one-hour visit helped the members know about the history of friendly exchanges between Nagasaki and China， and， in particular， gave them a deeper understanding about the unusual friendship between Umeya and Dr. Sun as a symbol Sino-Japanese friendly relations.

Nagasaki is the place where the original story of the famous opera Madame Butterfly was written. The Glover Garden， where there are many European-style buildings， has become well known in the world since the famous soprano Maria Callas visited it. It is also a place that opera fans yearn to visit， for in it there is a statue of Giacomo Puccini presented as a gift by Lucca City， his Italian birthplace. For this reason， since 2004， Nagasaki City has held the Madame Butterfly International Concours， and this year’s event was the fourth. On the second day of their visit， all the chorus members went to Glover Garden to enthusiastically experience the architectures and atmosphere of the time when Madame Butterfly lived， and had group pictures taken in front of Puccini’s statue.

In the afternoon they watched the performance of the eight finalists in the 4th Madame Butterfly International Concours. Each of them was highly professional and sang beautifully. The members of delegation and viewers admired their wonderful performance， saying that the chance to watch such a high-level international concours did not come often and watching it was really an artistic treat. The concert was held in the Nagasaki Brick Hall. Five local amateur choruses and the Beijing Yuying Beiman Alumni Specialists Chorus successfully performed in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere. When one chorus finished its performance， it quietly went down from the stage to sit with the audience to watch the other performers and gave warm applause and cheers for their wonderful performance.

When a Chinese and a Japanese child pianist played a duet (one piano， four hands) Kangding Love Song and Hungarian Dances， the audience clapped their hands to the rhythm of the music. At the subsequent reception， members of the Chinese and Japanese choruses chatted animatedly. As there were not enough interpreters， they talked in writing or body language. When they felt that they hadn’t sung enough， they then sang together songs familiar to all such as Red Dragonfly and Boat Song of the Wusuli River.

The chorus sung by nearly one hundred people reverberated around the hall. At that time， songs transcended the boundaries of language， nationality and state， bringing the people closer and linking their hearts. The reception was over. Everyone was reluctant to say goodbye. Though our Japanese friends and we spoke different languages， the tightly held hands made us forever remember the city—Goodbye Nagasaki! Goodbye friends in Nagasaki!

* Shokichi Umeya (1868--1934) was a Japanese film promoter and producer who financially supported Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary activities over a period of nearly 20 years.