Street music

I heard some music drifting down the cobbled street, and found a singer, about 7 or 8 elderly musicians, and an even older audience sitting by an old stone gateway. They were performing and listening to Chinese opera (not my favourite, but, if you steel yourself to the high notes, still enjoyable) while drinking tea, chatting and gossiping. The locals insisted I sit and join them, offering me tea, and we held a very fragmented conversation; 'where are you from', 'when did you come to Zhangzhou', 'are you a teacher', 'that women over there is 80'. And that is about as far as my Chinese will take me!