The lonely circus, hidden in a small town

When the fireworks in the night sky went out, how many people looked up to the sky and lamented that the "flavor of the New Year" was gone.

From the first to the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, passing through the bustling city center and on the edge of the tourist-congested ancient city scenic spot, a simple circus stage stood up stubbornly and lonely. In recent years, the town, which used to be the busiest for entertainment activities during the New Year, has become less and less interesting every year. Next to the bustling street stalls, the colorful circus tent on the gravel ground is particularly eye-catching.

The circus is a very ancient entertainment activity. When you walk into the tent, you will see countless plastic chairs and snack bags on the floor, giving you a strong sense of the times. With the increasing penetration of online entertainment , and the onslaught of offline consumption, this circus that was once full of spectators has long been gathering dust in the corner.

But there are still many active people who are still carrying heavy burdens and walking among the crowds in third- and fourth-tier cities. Li Shuai (pseudonym) is one of them. Magical magic, smart bears, funny clowns, and vigorous lions... These interesting-sounding performances are his daily work, and they have even gradually been integrated into his life.

In 2020, the 36-year-old Canadian national treasure circus "Cirque du Soleil" was rumored to be bankrupt, casting a heavy haze on the industry. During the seven-day annual vacation, Li Shuai led his team to various areas in Linyi, a populous city in Shandong Province. When asked, "Is this a good job?" Li Shuai smiled, but remained silent.

The most common circus may be very simple. Sometimes there is a monkey, a gong and a drum, and a gapped enamel bowl. Now it has been upgraded to a QR code. With a shout in the streets, it is a walking arena. "circus". In the glory days of the circus, both adults and children enjoyed the sensory stimulation obtained from fantasy performances. Nowadays, more and more performers are gradually becoming speechless while guarding the stage.

Once in the splendid Casino Royale of Monaco, Cirque du Soleil’s founder Larry Bate was hailed as a “perfect performer” by many media. However, after 36 long years, Cirque du Soleil has encountered difficulties one after another. Global performances were suspended, more than 95% of employees were laid off, and finances collapsed...Laribet's perfectionism was finally shattered.

The giants are not doing well. 2020 is a turning point in crisis for all offline entertainment. In January, Cirque du Soleil stopped performing domestic performances, and Lalibet also sold his shares in the company The last 10% of the shares; in March, it was announced that it would suspend 44 tour performances worldwide, including fixed performances at Las Vegas theaters.

According to Reuters, Cirque du Soleil is facing a cash crunch and debt of about US$900 million. In March 2020, Cirque du Soleil had only 259 employees remaining. From a certain perspective, Cirque du Soleil is a microcosm of the rise and fall of the global circus performance industry, and in this context, it is obviously more difficult for those folk "grass-stage troupes" without star halo to survive.

Lalibate is Li Shuai’s idol since he was a child. From the time he was sent to Wuqiao Acrobatic Art School by his parents at the age of 6, the slogan “Be a perfect performer” was posted by the teacher on his practice room wall. Large performance groups like Cirque du Soleil are overwhelmed. Will the group still be able to do well in 2020? When faced with such a question, Li Shuai responded calmly: Even if there was no epidemic, grassroots performers like us would be doomed.

Tickets for Li Shuai’s “Overseas Circus” tour are generally 20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for children. During the hottest period of the year, more than 10,000 yuan of tickets can be sold for one night’s performance. , but when no one cares about it, it is common to earn one or two thousand yuan a night. "Everyone is holding their mobile phones now, wanting to see something. Who would bring their whole family to watch something like ours."

Domestic circus performances were once very popular, and were once comparable to the "long-term performance" of Cirque du Soleil abroad. Statistics from the Chimelong International Circus ten years ago showed that the Chimelong International Circus performed 400 performances in a year, at least one performance every day. The average audience per game in the off-season is 2,000, and in the peak season there are nearly 10,000 people per day. Based on the calculation of 120 yuan per ticket and an average of 3,000 people per day, the annual revenue exceeds 100 million yuan.

Li Shuai is from Suzhou, Anhui. This small city with an area of ??less than 1,000 square kilometers is known as the "Hometown of Circus". In Li Shuai's own words, his circus skills are passed down from his ancestors.

At its peak, Li Shuai's circus had a revenue of 2 million yuan, but after deducting venue fees, animal feeding fees, actor wages and various costs, there were still hundreds of thousands left every year.

In Li Shuai's eyes, even if the industry is declining, the annual income of hundreds of thousands is more practical than working part-time. In his circus, there are only three or four permanent staff, and there are only two lions left. A monkey and a bear. The difficulty in finding actors is Li Shuai's biggest headache. This kind of circus does not have much artistic style, let alone high-end stage skills. It can only attract the audience with two words: "technology".

Because of his boyish skills, Li Shuai can do twenty somersaults in one breath, do handstands on stacked chairs, fly on the trapeze, and walk on a tightrope, but the skills of the extras in the troupe are really worrying. During an evening performance in Linyi on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the actor holding the water bowl made three mistakes. What embarrassed Li Shuai most was not the boos from the audience, but the indifference of the crowded audience below.

(Li Shuai's team performs high-altitude performance, picture source author)

"Few children love to learn this now, and they can't bear the hardship." In order to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the audience, most folk None of the high-altitude shows in the circus have safety ropes. This is a gimmick to attract attention. Li Shuai would even emphasize it repeatedly on the radio. This leads to a problem, accidents can never be avoided.

For example, in April 2018, Cirque du Soleil actor Yann Arnaud unfortunately fell and died while performing in Florida, USA. Li Shuai smiled bitterly and said that their business doesn’t even want insurance companies.

On Douyin, circus and other performances are very popular among young people.

During the Spring Festival, short circus videos from all over the country were viewed nearly 900 million times. Specific circus performances such as diabolo dancing were included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. , young people are becoming more and more interested in cheering for street performers. The "2019 Douyin Data Report" shows that in 2019, 93% of national intangible cultural heritage projects had related videos on Douyin, with *** exceeding 3.3 billion likes.

Have you ever considered entering into short videos or live broadcasting of group performances? Li Shuai once considered this issue very seriously. These thrilling performances can indeed make waves in short videos, especially acrobatics and magic. In Li Shuai's opinion, it is easy to get rid of fans in the Douyin circle. Lin Changgui, the recently popular Tiankan magician, quickly attracted nearly 500,000 fans with his "fake at first glance" magic.

There is another person who became famous on Douyin for revealing the secret of magic. A video revealing the secret was played 1.6 million times on Douyin, and he gained 420,000 fans in just 7 months. But Li Shuai looks down on this kind of performance, "Revealing the secrets of magic will deprive it of its amazing abilities. What is the difference between this kind of thing and robbing colleagues of their jobs."

Li Shuai comes from a circus family. I love reading martial arts novels, and always have the dream of a knight who wants to fight in the world. In Suzhou, Anhui, there are countless circus "descendants" like Li Shuai. It is said that more than 80% of circus performances in the country come from Suzhou. Data shows that at its peak, there were more than 300 circuses of various types in Suzhou Yongqiao District, with many employees There are more than 20,000 people, and the annual revenue can reach more than 400 million.

"Circus is a cultural heritage that needs us to inherit and carry forward. Douyin is all about sensationalism, just perform honestly and don't want to mess with those moths." In the dim performance studio, Li Shuai I was watching "Swordsman in the Snow" while holding my mobile phone. In fact, if you look carefully at the major social platforms, except for the audience's own uploads or the acrobats' fans, very few circuses have opened accounts on social platforms for marketing.

As for the reason, it may not be as just and awe-inspiring as Li Shuai's reason. First of all, animal performances are unavoidable in most circuses. In this era of booming pet economy, young people's mentality towards animals has long since transitioned from curiosity to compassion and care. In November last year, Yu Zheng's new drama was criticized for allegedly harming animals. Netizens boycotted it on a large scale.

In a word, traditional animal circus performances may not receive applause on the Internet, but a lot of abuse.

At present, the world is protecting the life and dignity of animals. According to statistics, a total of 36 countries and 389 cities in the world have banned or restricted animal performances, such as Cirque du Soleil. Therefore, one of the reasons that cannot be ignored for its existence for more than 30 years is that it never uses animals in performances.

But for grassroots circuses, it seems impossible to ban animal performances.

In recent years, domestic requirements for animal performances have become increasingly strict, which has been a fatal blow to the survival of circuses. It is reported that due to the lack of domestication certificates, the number of Suzhou Yongqiao circuses has dropped sharply from more than 300 at its peak. to more than 100 families.

(Li Shuai’s team lion performance, picture source author)

Li Shuai has repeatedly emphasized that the animals in the group are formal channels. It is said that many circus performances in Suzhou not only have techniques passed down from ancestors, but also the animals. Li Shuai has a friend who has more than a dozen tigers at home, all of which are descendants of the tigers used by his great-grandfather and grandfather when they were engaged in circus performances.

But do these circus animals have "certificates"? In fact, it is difficult to say. You can search for many case judgments related to keywords such as "Suzhou Circus Tiger" on the China Judgment Documents Online. In January 2021, the Suzhou City Yongqiao District Court ruled on a case of illegal acquisition of precious and endangered wild animals. case.

Faced with netizens’ doubts about animal performances, Li Shuai expressed his incomprehension. "The little furry children in our group have to eat beef and chicken cartons every day, and are also fed vitamins and calcium tablets. Some little monkeys drink milk powder and imported ones. Just like you raise pets, they are raised as your own children. How can this be abuse? ?”

But when the tiger jumped into the ring of fire and the bear climbed onto the gymnastics stage, no one was willing to accept this statement. The trapped animal still fights, rather than describing the animals, it is better to describe the situation of these circus performers themselves.

Why is the small town suddenly deserted at the end of the year?

Li Shuai’s team spent seven days in Yizhou Ancient Town, Linyi. This is one of the most crowded scenic spots in the city during the New Year holiday. During the Spring Festival, just parking requires half an hour. The northern and southern districts of the ancient city have not yet been fully planned. The circus venue was chosen at the unfinished end. The ground is rugged and there are several excavators parked not far from the next door.

"It's cheap here." Li Shuai explained. From 7 to 9 pm is the time when the circus has the largest number of people in a day. Outside the tent with the clown painted on it, there are shredded tickets for tickets everywhere. There are several circles of plastic chairs inside, which make the stage with a wire fence in the middle look a little desolate.

Compared to talking about the current situation, Li Shuai obviously prefers to reminisce about the past.

According to him, circus had its golden age in the 1990s. The lack of cultural life at that time caused them to be cheered and swarmed wherever they went. "The queue could be dozens of meters long!" Li Shuai described how he went to a park with his parents to perform when he was a child. He said without exaggeration, "We can perform continuously every day." 10 shows, every show was full, and the audience was standing still without seats. The actors were afraid that they would burst the net."

(Li Shuai's team lion performance, picture source author)

< p> Although we can’t imagine the huge crowds at that time, in an era when monthly wages were mediocre, when Li Shuai’s family’s business was booming, their daily income could exceed 1,000 yuan. From relevant information, these are traceable. In 1993, a circus contributed more than 1.3 million in annual income to a zoo in Guangzhou.

"The spirit of the New Year has faded, and our lives have become even more difficult. In the past year, we have been counting on the money coming from the New Year." When he came to Linyi this year, Li Shuai's biggest lament was that the markets were almost gone. . It is undeniable that the annual entertainment activities in small towns are slowly shrinking. Taking the market that Li Shuai cherishes as an example, it has already evolved from a multi-functional place for trade, culture, entertainment and other places into a single-function trading place.

Nowadays, during the Chinese New Year, traditional New Year entertainment activities such as dragon and lion dances and circuses have long been replaced by short videos and red envelope grabbing. The entertainment consumption venues in small towns have moved from offline to online. This is inevitable. Reversal of trends. Data shows that by 2021, Taobao e-commerce and logistics transportation will increasingly penetrate into rural areas. With 309 million rural Internet users and an Internet penetration rate of 55.9%, once-bustling towns have suddenly become deserted.

For young people, it is better to lie in bed and play with their mobile phones than to go out in the cold wind to watch acrobatics. In addition, year-end consumption across the country is declining. Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that as early as the seven days of the Spring Festival in 2019, retail and catering companies across the country achieved sales of approximately 1.005 billion yuan, an increase of 8.5% over last year’s Spring Festival Golden Week, the lowest in recent years. growth rate.

Furthermore, in recent years, fewer and fewer people have returned to their hometowns for the New Year. A survey showed that 86.95% of people said from 2020 that they would prefer to stay at work On the one hand, the capricious epidemic situation, and on the other hand, subjective factors such as the urge to get married and blind dates have made young people resist celebrating the New Year. On Weibo, there are nearly 8,000 discussions on "How happy can one be during the New Year".

Perhaps these people are not Li Shuai’s target group, but there are fewer people, and the flavor of the year has faded. Looking around the entire ancient city of Yizhou, after the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, it is like an empty city, leaving only strings of colored lights and dust. Sha, I'm afraid his dream of wandering around the world will soon be over.