Experiencing Chengdu Culture

Like most of my time here thus far, last week was full of new chinese adventures. I have gotten into a routine of getting up for my early class then going back to bed and sleeping, eating and lounging the rest of the day away until my evening classes. Thursday I decided to change this routine.

Chengdu is home to one of the most famous Daoist Temples in China, Qingyang Gong. After studying Daoism for a semester I was very eager to visit this temple, especially the vegetarian restaurant there. After making one successful attempt to find this temple a week ago (we went to the Tea house then ran out of time), Lexi and I mounted our bikes and headed out for a Daoist adventure. After finding the park where the temple was located we wandered around for about 20 minutes asking people in our broken chinese where the temple was before we finally found it. Since arriving in China I have visited many temples, but I appreciated this one the most because I understood alittle bit about the deities and shrines. The three purities where are the most holy place, near the rear of the temple and Lao zhi had his own circular shrine right in the middle of the temple. Being an active Daoist temple I was also able to identify the monks roaming around by their hair (tied up in a top knot), their hats and their clothing. It was a beautiful temple. We finished our visit there with lunch at the vegetarian restaurant. They actually had a English menu and almost everything was vegetarian so we could easily order. We ended up with a delicious lunch of a spicy doufu peanut dish, bamboo shoots, noodles (wonderful when mixed in the doufu sauce), and shredded potatoes. Yum! After lunch it was time to head back to the dorm for taiji class. I am happy to report Juanita behaved wonderfully on this whole journey and no repair work was needed when we arrived back on campus.

My culture experiences continued Thursday night when I gathered up a few from our group and met up with our chinese friend Candy for a few games of Mah Jong. I learned this game on the cruise on our way to Chengdu, but I learned Shanghai rules which are very different from chengdu rules. Candy helped us learn the Chengdu way and we enjoyed quite a few games on the fancy electric mah jong table. The game was also very beneficial in helping me learn my chinese numbers so I killed two birds with one stone, learning a local popular game and learning important chinese words!

The cultural experiences continued on Friday when Tiara decided that Erin, Lexi and I all needed new Chinese hair styles. So we called up a chinese friend and asked her to take us to a salon. We walked in to one of the many salons that surround the campus and being the only blond in the group, I was immediately surrounded by hairstylists touching my hair. We found it interesting that almost all the hairstylists were male and had the same hair style: long, reddish hair styled in an afro. Our Chinese friend Suzy worked her way through our group explaining to the hairstylist what each of us wanted. Lexi wanted a bob, Erin wanted her hair died darker, Tiara wanted a trim and a blue streak and it had been decided on the bike ride over I would attempt an Asian perm. With that established Suzy left us and we were taken into the hair washing room where we laid down while getting our hair washed and our heads massaged. We then headed back to the salon where we preceded to spend the next 4 hours. Lexi's haircut took very little time and my cut and perm took no more than 2 hours, but Erin's hair had to be died twice and Tiara's hair had to be bleached five times before they could put in the blue and cut it. I didn't exactly ended up with the chinese perm I was hoping for, I got more of the american style, but I love the cut and am quickly adjusting to curly hair. It was quite comical because throughout the whole process the hairstylists would try to talk to us in a dialect none of us could understand. Thinking they were trying to ask us questions we would call suzy to interpret, only to find that they were just trying to chat. In the end everyones hair turned out great and we went out to a delicious dinner of BBQ skewers and eggplant to celebrate. It was yet again another successful cultural adventure.

Saturday brought yet another adventure. At the early hour of 9:30am, sporting my new hair I boarded a bus with the rest of my group to visit the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center. Throughout the course of the morning we saw Pandas of all ages. We learned that pandas have to spend 14 hours a day eating bamboo to get enough energy to survive and they prefer to eat laying on their backs. At the nursery we learned that newborn pandas are only the size of a cube of butter, but grow quickly after birth. The month old pandas we saw were about the size of a small stuffed animal. We also saw red pandas, which I think look more like raccoons then panda bears and are not quite as cute. Besides not being able to sleep in, our Saturday panda adventure was another fabulous Chengdu Cultural experience.

I look forward to more Chengdu Cultural experiences, but am also excited to experience Tibet culture as we travel there this coming Saturday. Sorry for the length of this blog and keep an eye out for more to come on Tibet!

Making wishes...

Lotus Flowers and Devil ears are essential to celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival!









Yesterday was the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. All week I have been researching how this day is celebrate by talking to my chinese friends and looking it up online. I learned that Mid-Autumn festival was to be spent with family eating moon cakes watching the moon. I also discovered it was customary to do kareoke and wear grapefruit peels on your head.


Armed with this information I was ready to celebrat this holiday the chinese way. Sunday I was to spend the day with my Homestay, which I thought appropriate since this day was to be spent with family. I had a wonderful day watching a movie showing shoulin monks doing kung fu, drinking tea, eating all sorts of yummy vegetables, and learning about Tibitian dance all with my host Shouwie and his parents.


We then met up with other PLU students and their hosts to enjoy a dinner of chinese "snack food." At first I was curious as to what was considered snack food, but when I found out I was pleasantly surprised. The meal started like most of our group meals with plates of food brought out family style, however it quickly shifted to small individual dishes brought out to each person. This dishes were nothing like american food and ranged from sweet rice soup to gooey balls filled with poppy seed sauce to cold noodles in spicy sauce. I really enjoyed the meal and they had been told ahead of time I was vegetarian so I was only given meatless dishes---so nice to not have to worry about what I was eating!

After dinner we headed back to the dorm and prepared to go to Karoake as I had been told was costumary on this holiday. However, we never quite made it. What I had not been told about this holiday was that it was also a tradition to light lanterns and release them with a wish into the night sky. As we returned to campus we observed this phenomenon all along the river that boarders the university. We eventually decided to join in. As a group we purchased many lanterns and climbed up to the dorm roof to release them. On the first lantern we all wrote a wish and sent it up into the sky together. Some of us then precieved to light and release our own individual lanterns. After lighting mine with help from others in the group, I released it and watched it until it vanished from sight. It was a very magical experience. After we were done lighting our lanterns we stayed on the roof and continued to watch the night sky, which was filled with beautiful red and yellow dots, and the flowing river, which was filled with pink candle floating lotuses. Of course I also brought moon cakes up on the roof too so we could enjoy those and we observed the festivities. It was an amazing evening!

Mastering Chinese, Face Changing and the Near Death of Jaunita...Oh My!

Today started off great with me giving my Chinese Teacher a manderin orange in honor of Teachers day and then proudly speaking the chinese words I memorized last night. Class was followed with a fabulous breakfast full of poppy seed paste stuffed pasteries. Yum!

Lunch was one of the highlight of the day, being the first meal I ordered in Chinese all by myself! (See picture of Lexi, Zach and I at the restuarant) And I didn't just order for me I ordered for the whole group. "Miantiao Mei you rou" (noodles without meat) Pointing at myself and two others in the group and then "Miantiao you rou" (noodles with meat) pointing at the remaining two in the group. Although it was only a few words, it was the first meal I had ordered in Chinese and I felt a huge sense of accomplishment.

After lunch things went down hill for Juanita. As we were leaving the noodle shop one of Juanitas brakes flew off the bike. This left me riding her back to the dorm with very minimal braking ability. However, we made it back safely and headed straight to the bike repair man and a mear 1 yuan later Jaunita was as good as new....well, that is for the time being.

With a fully repaired bike I headed back out with others in the group to register at the American consulate. Upon arriving at the American Consulate we learned that, although we had made it though during the appropriate hours to register (between 1:30-3:30pm), no one is allowed to register on Wednesdays. So we headed back to the dorm with a quick stop at the Grocery store. However, on the way to the store Juanita's brakes decided to go out completely, leading to a very delayed stop in the middle of a busy intersection. We both survived although the brake handle was no longer attached to the actual brake. I some how made it to the store, collected the items I needed, and returned to Jaunita only to find that now not only were the brakes no longer functional, but the front tire was completely deflated! It was at this point that I decided Jaunita's life was most likely over, however I decided to give her one last chance and hobble my way to the closest bike repair men (a very LONG 10 minute bike ride away).

The whole ride to the repair man I prepared myself to retire Jaunita and find a new bike. But the bike repairman preformed a miracle! He brought Jaunita back to life and she made a full recovery and all for just 2 yuan!! The bike repairman is quickly becoming my friend and I do not think I have seen him for the last time just yet. I am sure he will preform many more miracles as the semester continues

The day concluded with a Chengdu classic: Sichuan Opera. A show more like a variety show than an Opera, complete with puppets, dancers, magical face changing, and fire spitting. The show was entertaining and full of rich Chinese culture, through the costumes, colors, and traditions.

It was quite a day! Full of many different experiences and adventures. I look forward to whatever China has to offer next!

Teahouse, Ear cleaning and Children in Large Balls

Today consisted of another wonderful cultural adventure. After moping around the room all morning Erin proposed a trip to a teahouse. Using the knowledge that teahouses usually accompany temples we got out the map, chose a temple that was easy to get to, and gathered a group to venture there. Our vehicle of choice was of course our newly acquired bicycles and off we went up first ring road, dodging motor bikes, taxis, pedistrians, and other bicylists. We arrived at what we thought was the temple to find a park full of Teahouses and kiddie carnival rides. Erin and I were at once amused by the kid craft stand where we watched the kiddie potters and picked up some Olympic character crafts, while the boys headed off to pick out a Teahouse. When we were finally ready to join them we found out they had not only found a teahouse buy also an ear cleaner. Hmmmmm... well thats interesting. As we headed over to the Teahouse of choice to investigate we discovered a small child inside a large ball trying to move around a pond. Quite an interesting form of day care, but I suppose rather effective. Erin and thought it looked fun and would some day like to try it ourselves. We finally found the boys at a nice local teahouse, ordered our tea, and precieved to get our ears cleaned too. And not just your normal daily cleaning with a q-tip, this was a full out cleaning including a scapel, a small chimney sweep, and a tuning mallet. I don't know exactly the whole process, but it sure felt very wierd in my ear. However, my ears were squeeky clean afterward and I could hear the grasshoppers chipping in Washington. The whole ordeal was definitely a cultural experience.

From there we left the park to get back for a group meeting, yet to find the temple--that will have to be another trip. None the less it was a great afternoon full of new cultural experiences.

A Very Scary Journey

So driving in China is different than anything I have ever experiences. It is New York traffic to the 100th power. I have noticed lanes mean nothing and are more of a guideline than a rule. Sometimes that is even the case with stop lights as well. Buses, taxis, car, motor bikes, and bikes all use the same roads and many times are all trying to cross at the same intersections at the same times. Needless to say this creates quite a traffic headach.

Up to this point I have avoided being in control of any of the vehicles on the street. I have riden in many a buses, but sat towards the back and looked out the window to avoid witnessing the 100 near accidents that happen an hour. I have also walked on the same roads with these vehicles as on campus there is a blurred line between roads and side walks. I have experienced nearing being run over by a bike, motor bike or car almost every time I cross a street and had to be yanked out of the way of a car earlier today.

Today my position in this crazy vehicle world changed. I am now a proud owner of a street bike. Her name is Jaunita. She was purchased down a dark alley in a fish market. She is a silver beauty with a gray basket and a nice rack on the back. Our first journey together was one of the scariest adventures of my life. The group I went bike shopping with split up so Tyler and I were the only ones who came back together. As we joined the mass of fellow bikers we decided our strategy would be to stay in the middle of other bikers as to protect ourselves from the larger vehicles on the streets. As we traveled home from the smelly, back ally fish market, we wove through other bikers on our rickety new vehicles. At one point Tyler informed me "We are riding through traffic in China on bicycles over a bridge. I would take your picture right now if I wasn't scared." Luckily we eventually made it back to the dorm safely and in one piece.

I feel like that first journey help me get up the courage to brave riding all around this huge city. I thoroughly enjoyed myself on the ride to dinner and have now found much happiness in riding Jaunita whereever I may go.

Chengdu Update...

So although I haven't finished my study tour blogs yet, I wanted to jump ahead a bit and do a Chengdu update and post pictures of my nicely decorated dorm room (yes, they do call them dorms or dormitories here, unlike PLU).

Today was our second full day in Chengdu and it consisted of exploring the downtown Chengdu area and buying cell phones (that part was about a 3 hour ordeal!). I had lunch at a tibetian resturant and experienced Yak butter tea (not so good), Barley wine (many wierd tastes, but not bad), and many different SPICY potato dishes. This evening we enjoyed dinner at a very nice thailand resturant and burned our taste buds off with spicy curry.

Yesterday consisted of taking care of house keeping things, such as ironing out schedules, getting pictures, meal cards, maps, attempting to get cell phones and bikes, and braving "trust" Mart, the local fred meyer like store. Trust mart was the most stressful part of the day as it was crowded, the staff didn't speak english and all the products had all chinese labels. We also were very crunched for time and so we had to rush through. After taking a dinner break we were able to return and attempt the store one more time, this time being sucessful in buy dorm room and personal essentials.

Check out what we bought to decorate our rooms in the below pictures (please keep in mind it is laundry day so there are clothes hanging EVERYWHERE!):

Arriving in Mainland China!

On Monday we arrived in Guilin, our first mainland China stop! I successfully made it through customs. Yay! We arrived at night and were nicely greeted by a row of neon light up palm trees. This theme seemed to carry on as we drove into the city and saw many other neon signs, trees lit up with bright colors, traditional buildings and bridges lit up with lights and searchlights swirling around the sky. This was our first and only real experience with Guilin as we headed to bed as soon as we got to the hotel and left for a lunch cruise early the next morning.
Tuesday’s cruise down the Li River brought beautiful scenery and new experiences. The Li river is surrounded by huge beautiful mountains and much of it goes through gorge like valleys. The wildlife we saw from the boat consisted of many water buffalo. As we rode the river many locals paddled along side us on small rafts made of bamboo (see photo). Every once and a while they would attach on to our boat and try to sell us things through the window. They sold everything from jade Buddhas to candles and Lychee fruit. Tiara bought some Lychee fruit and we enjoyed peeling and eating this grape like food.
We exited the boat right into a small market. We didn’t have much time at the market, but I managed to get some mango flavored gelato and a movie. After weaving through the market we got on to small electric cars for a rural village tour. This was an amazing experience. Up until this point, whenever I thought about China I thought mainly about big crowded, developed cities. However, this day opened my eyes to the huge rural population, which also makes up a significant portion of the population of China. China is not just big cities, but it is also beautiful mountains, flowing rivers and a huge rural communities.
After our day of exploring the beautiful scenery of Guilin we got on a 12 hour train ride to Wuhan. The girls all got enclosed sleeper cars (soft sleepers—how rich people travel) and the boys got open sleepers (Hard sleepers—how the normal people travel). See the pictures to compare. Sleeping on the train was really tolerable and the time went by quickly as we just watched a movie and slept. The only negative experience on the train was the bathrooms. Luckily, in the soft sleeper area we had a western style toilet, but we still had to hold your breath before you went in or even walked by. Apparently this was nothing compared to the horror stories the boys had about their squatter bathroom facilities.
So that was the second leg of my study tour, more still to come so check back soon…