Shanghai Daily news advertising the bull fight

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Shanghai Daily news

 

In Ernest Hemingway's description of it, bullfighting in Spain is a

very serious sport: Each part of the corrida begins and ends simply

``without any of the trials associated with relationships'' -- just

like the author's simple yet vivid style and his attitudes towards

women, love and sex.

But how will the thrilling and controversial ``art'' of bullfighting

with its history of blood and ``Death in the Afternoon'' be received

by people on the other side of the world? The answer will be

revealed soon as Shanghai hosts China's first-ever Spanish bullfight

tomorrow afternoon at Yangpu Stadium. Ever since the project was

launched at the end of last year, organizers have claimed that they

will present a genuine Spanish bullfight with all its traditions

meticulously preserved. The local audience will be treated to some

not-so-familiar practices of the bullfight, such as the trumpet call

to announce the entrance of the matadors and their teams to the

music of the famous two-step paso doble, ``La Virgin de la

Macerena.'' Three of Spain's top matadors will lead the teams to

fight the bulls to the death. ``The idea of organizing a bullfight

came from a poster in my office when I was thinking of the next

project for my company to run,'' says Zhu Weifeng, president of the

event's organizing committee. His company also ran the Shanghai

World Carnival in Pudong last October. ``It was a gift from one of

my Spanish friends. I was deeply impressed by the bullfighter's

elegance and calmness in the poster before a ferocious beast and it

somehow reminded me of the writing in `The Sun Also Rises'.'' But

like every dream-comes-true story, organizing a bullfight is never

so easy in real life. Zhu had originally planned to run the fights

during the National Day holiday at the larger Shanghai Stadium

downtown, but this had to be dropped because Shanghai quarantine

authorities said Spain was on the list of Mad Cow disease countries

and no imports of bulls from there would be allowed. When the

organizers managed to find substitute bulls in Mexico and

rescheduled the event to this weekend, the stadium told them at the

last minute that a Chinese Super League match had been scheduled.

The necessary change of venue cost another 5 million yuan

(US$602,400) because Yangpu Stadium had to be renovated so it could

become a real bullfight arena. But finally, all the emergencies

seemed to have been solved with one week to go to the bullfight. The

last difficulty arrived at the same time the bulls did. When the

plane carrying them touched down at Shanghai's Pudong International

Airport last Wednesday, staff saw no way they could load them onto

trucks. Each of the eight ``Lidias'' bulls from Mexico (said to be

of the same origin as the Spanish ones) weighs half a ton and they

weren't happy after their long flight. ``Hoisting them is not an

ideal choice since it can't assure the balance of the cage,'' says

Victor Caro, a Mexican ``Lidia'' expert invited by the local

organizing committee to supervise the bulls. ``These bulls have been

confined without any food (to avoid indigestion during the flight)

and they can be very aggressive to any changes of environment.''

However, the problem was solved by the airport authorities who

loaned the organizers two giant forklift trucks to unload the bulls.

Looking at the event, one's sympathy seems naturally to go to the

giant beasts who have travelled halfway round the world merely to be

killed in a strange country. Yet this is also part of the

interesting culture of bullfighting. Matador Guillermo Alban says

the killing of a bull also involves showing the respect to a brave

fighter. On only a few occasions in a bullfight is the bull allowed

to survive. It happens when the spectators wave white handkerchiefs

and cry ``Ole'' which means the bull has put up a very good fight.

However, no matter what the Shanghai crowd wants, say the quarantine

authorities, all eight bulls will be killed this weekend and their

bodies buried in an ``appropriate place.'' So the bulls will be

above ground in China for only a few days -- or until a short time

after the trumpet call summons the matadors to the arena. While

everyone else associated with the event is excited, the matadors are

relaxed. ``We are performing to entertain the audience. And as you

can see from our matador suits, they don't provide much protection

for us but rather focus on showing off the physique of the wearer,''

Alban says. ``It's part of bullfighting culture that matadors and

bulls are treated as equal opponents and we show a sincere respect

to the culture. I think that is a major reason why bullfighting has

been popular for hundreds of years.''

 

October 23-24, 2pm

Venue: Yangpu Stadium, 3681 Zhoujjiazui Rd

Tickets: 180-2,800 yuan

Tel: 800-820-8056, 5301-8056