Las Vegas youth musicians fascinated by visit to China

Long way to go for moo shu pork.

Crack open a fortune cookie, though: "You will be treated like rock stars on the other side of the world."

Confucius say: Cool.

"They played magnificently and the Chinese just loved them," says Bev Patton, executive director of the Las Vegas Youth Philharmonic, whose 58 members toured the communist country during a 10-day trip June 20-29, the organization's second trip abroad, following a 2008 tour of Prague, Vienna and Salzburg, Austria.

"I had never seen kids that were so happy to see me before," says 17-year-old violinist Samantha Ciarlo.

Paying $3,390 each (airfare, lodging and meals included), musicians from Las Vegas Academy; Rancho, Centennial, Clark and Silverado high schools; and others landed in Northern China to visit Beijing and Qinhuangdao (where they relaxed at the Beijing Super House International Hotel, and Beidaihe Seaside Garden Hotel, respectively) and Tianjin (where they relaxed at a ... Holiday Inn).

Four concerts were highlighted by a joint performance with the China Youth Symphony Orchestra in Beijing. Between gigs, the teens dropped in on the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.

"They valued the cultural exchange," Patton adds. "We told them this was a communist government, there are ways you must behave in their world. You need to respect their way of life."

Arrival at Beijing Airport, however, was less than a wow moment.

"There's massive pollution," says 16-year-old tuba player Austin Maul. "I inhaled and it's like the smell of smoke when forest fires blow up from California, about 10 times worse." Trombonist Shelby Cline, 18, was more succinct: "It's like, 'Ick, it's on me.' "

Taught a few simple Chinese phrases for the basics -- "hello," "goodbye," "where's the bathroom?" -- the kids found communication wasn't an issue.

"They take English courses, it's embedded into their curriculum," says 18-year-old bassist Summer Kodama. "None of us could speak Mandarin Chinese but we were still able to communicate."

Language issues were different for Allan Quan, a 16-year-old trombonist. "In this part, they only speak Mandarin," says Quan, who is Chinese. "I grew up with Cantonese, I tried to speak to them in Cantonese, but a translator told me they would never understand it."

Though a first-time visitor to China, Quan says he immediately felt connected. "When we saw the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City, it just felt like home a little, the way my father always explained it. He would say his parents always would tell the story and history behind these very wonderful sites."

Immediately striking to bassoonist Brock Norred, 18, was something American motorists might heed. "Everyone rode bikes and mopeds everywhere," he says. "There can only be so many cars because it would be too crowded. On a Wednesday, if your license plate ends in four or nine, you can't drive that day."

Contrary to the repressive atmosphere we might imagine, Kodama says, residents were a sunny bunch. "We visited the Heavenly Temple and everybody was doing their tai chi, singing, dancing, playing music, like there were no problems in the world and they found joy."

Also found? Compassion. "Walking on the street, they would invite people into their house to have dinner, random strangers," says clarinetist Guillermo Ramasasa, 16. "They're all basically family there. If they look hungry, they ask, 'Do you want to eat in my house?' "

While there were concessions to American tastes -- KFC and Subway made menu cameos -- opinions were divided on the genuine Chinese food.

"The food is what we have in mind, but we know what we're eating (in America)," Cline says. "It's FDA approved. In China I didn't know if I was eating chicken or dog."

To borrow a phrase: yeech. "We've been to authentic Chinese restaurants here in town, so I thought, 'China is going to be 3,000 times greater!' " Kodama says. "But it had a gamy taste to it. Everything was presented beautifully, though."

Adds 18-year-old viola player David Chavez: "The food was not what we're used to here, like Panda Express. I wasn't sure what I was eating half the time. It was like, who would be brave enough to try this?"

Another custom that flummoxed some students was the art of street bargaining. Recalling the street market in Tianjin, Ciarlo calls her experience a scam. "They're very good at hounding you. It's a total nightmare because we just don't have that here," she says.

"A lady was bargaining with us and we brought the price down a little bit. She was selling us scarves that were 100 percent silk so finally we bought it. The real scam was when we opened them and they were 100 percent polyester. It was disappointing, but it was five American dollars, so it didn't cost us much."

Far different was the admiration accorded the young musicians when they performed -- coupled with an odd fascination. "After the concert, about half the crowd rushed backstage trying to get our autographs, it was really cool," Norred says. "They all wanted pictures with us, especially if you have blond hair and blue eyes, or if you had straight hair, or if your hair looked like Justin Bieber."

Using a more hard-edged analogy, Maul adds: I felt like I was Eddie Van Halen or Gene Simmons up there."

Feelings flowed both ways as they performed with their Chinese counterparts. "I was blown away by their conservatory, how professional they were," says violinist Kaylene Pecora, 18. "We were in awe. It was strictly Chinese composers with traditional Chinese instruments, playing almost like the New York Philharmonic. We're more cool and relaxed. They're so grown-up at a young age."

Timeouts for tourism also were on the agenda. "We went to the Great Wall," Cline says. "It was cool to see something that was built so long ago." Think walking the MGM Grand is exhausting?

"You don't realize how tall it is," says French horn player Kaden Carr, 16. "There were three of us that got past the fifth tower from where we started. With the amount of energy it takes to get from point A to point B, it's amazing."

Yet for Chavez, there was one somber stop: Tiananmen Square, site of the massacre of hundreds of protestors in 1989.

"The tour guide told us we were not allowed to ask questions regarding the incident," he says. "You're standing in the square where all those students were killed, it's very humbling, very scary."

Even so, he adds, the lasting memories bring smiles. "After the last concert, we see this huge crowd of Chinese people waving and smiling and taking pictures. It's as if we were rock stars."

That fortune cookie was right on.

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.