Folk sports mesmerize

Taiwanese teens bring act to Corpus Christi in their only U.S. stop

By Stephanie L. Jordan—Corpus Christi Caller Times

January 26, 2002

Every day for two years, after 12-hour school days, teen-agers Henry Yu, Even Chen, Michelle Liao and Vicky Peng practiced Chinese folk sports for a chance to win Taiwan's national championship. They did win, and that was a huge honor - only 60 out of 600 who tried out made the team - but the travel that came with the title was what they had all anticipated. "The honor is in representing our country," said coach David Liu. "And they don't mind the work because they like to be together." They were to have come to the United States in September for a performance tour of major cities such as New York and Washington. That trip was canceled when terrorists attacked. But the teens, their parents and their school, Chung-Cheng Junior Middle School in Keelung, joined to sponsor a trip to Corpus Christi. It will be the group's only stop in the United States. Keelung is a coastal city on the northern tip of Taiwan. One of the island's three major ports, the city has more than 365,000 residents and has a sister-city agreement with Corpus Christi. "We worked very hard, but it was fun," said Michelle, 14. "It's very fresh here. The air is fresh." They did two performances for children Friday and will perform at 8 p.m. today in the Selena Auditorium. Their first performance was Friday morning at Grant Middle School where the students, who filed in noisily, sat transfixed while the teens performed. The brightly dressed group skipped rope, sometimes more than six at a time, and made tops dance using strings and two bars. Later in the day they visited Driscoll Children's Hospital. The Sister City Committee hosted a reception for them Friday night. Today they will get the chance to shop. But instead of looking for clothes and toys, they want to buy vitamins. "That's what's good about doing what we do, because it is good for our health," said 14-year-old Even. At the end of the performance they sang a song they had practiced for only two weeks. "They had been watching television and hearing this song they thought was the national anthem, so they asked me to send the words to them," said Yalee Shih, vice president of the Asian Cultural Museum in Corpus Christi. "It was God Bless America, which to them was the national anthem they thought they had heard." They performed it flawlessly, with one verse in Chinese and the other in English, a language many of the youths don't speak. "Their parents were so upset that they couldn't come because they had worked so hard," Shih said. "So they paid for it themselves or borrowed money from family. For them, seeing other cultures is part of the educational experience. It cost about $2,000 to $3,000 per child." Now Shih is concerned that not many people will come to see the teens perform. "We need people to come to see it so that the money from the tickets will help with the cost of them coming," she said. Today's performance by the Chinese Youth Folk Sports National Champions: 8 p.m. today at Selena Auditorium. Tickets are $8.75, $14.75 and $24.75

They can be purchased at the auditorium or by calling Ticketmaster at 361-881-8499.