The school year is complete and my sojourn in the central kingdom has come to a close. I must admit that I am finding it a bit sad that it will be some time before I reach China again, but it turns out that my travels in Asia are not over. Currently, I am spending a brief trip in Japan before moving back to my homeland.
This trip began, as is often the case when visiting Japan, in the heart of the modern country, Tokyo. I was worried before visiting Japan that it would be difficult to find myself in a place where I literally don't speak a word of the language, but as it turns out I've found it surprisingly accessible, even like home. Which, as my cousin Todd aptly reminded me, is probably due to America's long occupation after WWII. There are copious amounts of American brands available in stores as well as American businesses popping up all over the city. But, regardless of the commercial aspects, one thing I find remarkably similar to the Northwest, is the number of trees spread all over Tokyo. While my cousins who live here lament the lack of greenery I have found it to be exactly the opposite when compared to my most recent experiences. Living in a city of six million plus next to a desert truly kills any opportunity for natural space, whereas it appears to me that in Tokyo they have taken every opportunity possible to grow trees and garden areas. It has a vaguely Seattle-esque appeal in the combination of large areas of water and trees.
Yet, even if Japan reminds me more of home than Xi'an does, it also has its distinct differences. The first being the exorbant price of everything. I could live on $50 a day in Xi'an without noticing any minor cut back in my style of life, but that was the price of breakfast for three in my Tokyo hotel. Also, at night the city of Tokyo has a vastly different appeal than that of Seattle. It infact reminds me more of Las Vegas than anywhere else. There are just copious amounts of neon lights exclaiming nightclubs, restaurants, stores, and under the table gambling establishments. It is easy to just wander the streets of Tokyo and get lost in the lights and sounds of this compact city.
Throughout it all I feel as if Japan has acted as my "Asian patch" to get over the reality of leaving China. Things are distinctively Asian, but at the same time astoundingly American. It is this contrast that makes Japan a very unique country. I can see why two of my cousins have enjoyed spending a significant amount of their lives here. Though I feel more comfortable in China (especially since I am linguistically much more functional) Japan is a country truly worth exploring more deeply than my five days here will allow. I hope I will be able to return here someday and write a significantly more indepth piece about the multi-faceted culture that I find surrounding me.
- posted by Anna @ 8:52 AM

 
I have exactly nine more days in China and the reality of my departure is slowly starting to sink in. I taught my last class, gave my last final, and my room is slowly turning from a home back into the blank canvas that is all hotel rooms. After a long lunch comparing notes with a Chinese gentleman who spent the past year in America I realized that I have actually learned a fair amount about Chinese culture since I’ve been here. Surprisingly, many of his opinions on the differences in culture between America and China were similar to mine. I have often wondered what it must be like for Chinese people to be suddenly confronted with America and how they feel about it. But, it turns out that his impressions were remarkably like mine.
The first thing he mentioned is that America is very orderly. We stop at all red lights, regardless of the time of night. We do not smoke if there is a sign. Everyone waits patiently in line until it is our turn. Remarkably, all of these things which I always took for granted are not true in China. Most signs are treated like nice suggestions, not necessarily to be followed. I have seen numerous Chinese people walk across the grass (next to the sign asking them not to) to go touch a statue (again with a sign begging them to not touch) which they stand by while their friend takes a picture (also forbidden). Traffic laws absolutely baffle me. The fact that they paint lines on the ground to signify lanes apparently just did not get noticed by a single driver in the whole of Xi’an. And, when I am waiting patiently in line, every time a decrepit Chinese woman who is a foot shorter than me will suddenly slip right in front of me the moment I am about to approach the window.
The next difference we discussed was relationships between people. Though many of my Chinese students would be appalled to here me say this, Chinese people (as a general) are not very polite to strangers. My personal example comes from the way I am treated by children sometimes. When at a restaurant, children (whose parents are sitting at the next table over) will come over and pull my hair, pick up my drink and look at it, or simply just run circles are my table periodically yelling hello. All the while their parents ignore their awful behavior. Every time I tell this story to my Chinese friends they are shocked and refuse to believe it. But, it is completely true, and ironically not a one time incident. My Chinese lunch mate told me a story about when he was in Zhengzhou and became lost. He asked a woman selling sweet potatoes on the street for directions and she simply told him to go straight. Then, he went to a cigarette stand, bought a pack, and asked that person for directions. He received fantastic detailed directions that were perfectly correct. His explanation of this story was that since he had bought something the person was willing to help him whereas the first woman wasn’t even willing to give him the time of day because he was in no way connected to her. Most Americans, though I admit there are exceptions to every rule, would gladly give directions on any occasion.
But, American’s willingness to be helpful to strangers pales in comparison to Chinese people’s willingness to be helpful to their friends and family. Within their social circle Chinese people will go above and beyond help if someone they know (or their friend knows) needs it. I know that if I had a problem, such as I am having trouble making a phone call, and I called my Chinese friends in the middle of the night, they would wake up, get dressed, walk fifteen minutes to my room, and help me to do something as inane as calling Beijing. I have very few American friends who would not kill me for waking them over such a silly problem. Plus, this circle of aid goes beyond just the general people in your acquaintance. It also works for your friend’s friend’s old classmate that you have never met. If I were to call my cousin in, say, Colorado and ask him to ask his work colleague to pick my friend up at the airport he might do it. But, after the plane was four hours late those people would definitely not take my friend to their hotel and then wait until they have rested to take them out to lunch (the exact situation that happened to me upon arrival in Chengdu). I am consistently baffled how Chinese people are willing to go so extremely far for their friends and not an inch for someone they don’t know.
But, it is these types of baffling situations that I am going to miss the most when I leave China (that and the food of course). I have grown rather accustomed to not having any clue what people around me are saying. And, I am a little worried that I have completely forgotten how to eat with a fork. Though I don’t ever plan on making China my home permanently I am going to miss this strange land where I have to speak English very slowly and fear I would never quite fit in.

- posted by Anna @ 2:32 AM

 
I have exactly nine more days in China and the reality of my departure is slowly starting to sink in. I taught my last class, gave my last final, and my room is slowly turning from a home back into the blank canvas that is all hotel rooms. After a long lunch comparing notes with a Chinese gentleman who spent the past year in America I realized that I have actually learned a fair amount about Chinese culture since I’ve been here. Surprisingly, many of his opinions on the differences in culture between America and China were similar to mine. I have often wondered what it must be like for Chinese people to be suddenly confronted with America and how they feel about it. But, it turns out that his impressions were remarkably like mine.
The first thing he mentioned is that America is very orderly. We stop at all red lights, regardless of the time of night. We do not smoke if there is a sign. Everyone waits patiently in line until it is our turn. Remarkably, all of these things which I always took for granted are not true in China. Most signs are treated like nice suggestions, not necessarily to be followed. I have seen numerous Chinese people walk across the grass (next to the sign asking them not to) to go touch a statue (again with a sign begging them to not touch) which they stand by while their friend takes a picture (also forbidden). Traffic laws absolutely baffle me. The fact that they paint lines on the ground to signify lanes apparently just did not get noticed by a single driver in the whole of Xi’an. And, when I am waiting patiently in line, every time a decrepit Chinese woman who is a foot shorter than me will suddenly slip right in front of me the moment I am about to approach the window.
The next difference we discussed was relationships between people. Though many of my Chinese students would be appalled to here me say this, Chinese people (as a general) are not very polite to strangers. My personal example comes from the way I am treated by children sometimes. When at a restaurant, children (whose parents are sitting at the next table over) will come over and pull my hair, pick up my drink and look at it, or simply just run circles are my table periodically yelling hello. All the while their parents ignore their awful behavior. Every time I tell this story to my Chinese friends they are shocked and refuse to believe it. But, it is completely true, and ironically not a one time incident. My Chinese lunch mate told me a story about when he was in Zhengzhou and became lost. He asked a woman selling sweet potatoes on the street for directions and she simply told him to go straight. Then, he went to a cigarette stand, bought a pack, and asked that person for directions. He received fantastic detailed directions that were perfectly correct. His explanation of this story was that since he had bought something the person was willing to help him whereas the first woman wasn’t even willing to give him the time of day because he was in no way connected to her. Most Americans, though I admit there are exceptions to every rule, would gladly give directions on any occasion.
But, American’s willingness to be helpful to strangers pales in comparison to Chinese people’s willingness to be helpful to their friends and family. Within their social circle Chinese people will go above and beyond help if someone they know (or their friend knows) needs it. I know that if I had a problem, such as I am having trouble making a phone call, and I called my Chinese friends in the middle of the night, they would wake up, get dressed, walk fifteen minutes to my room, and help me to do something as inane as calling Beijing. I have very few American friends who would not kill me for waking them over such a silly problem. Plus, this circle of aid goes beyond just the general people in your acquaintance. It also works for your friend’s friend’s old classmate that you have never met. If I were to call my cousin in, say, Colorado and ask him to ask his work colleague to pick my friend up at the airport he might do it. But, after the plane was four hours late those people would definitely not take my friend to their hotel and then wait until they have rested to take them out to lunch (the exact situation that happened to me upon arrival in Chengdu). I am consistently baffled how Chinese people are willing to go so extremely far for their friends and not an inch for someone they don’t know.
But, it is these types of baffling situations that I am going to miss the most when I leave China (that and the food of course). I have grown rather accustomed to not having any clue what people around me are saying. And, I am a little worried that I have completely forgotten how to eat with a fork. Though I don’t ever plan on making China my home permanently I am going to miss this strange land where I have to speak English very slowly and fear I would never quite fit in.

- posted by Anna @ 2:32 AM

 
Basically, in the past month I have travelled for all but a week. My final adventure was to Yunnan, the southwestern province of China. This trip was far and away the most planned of all of my excursions. I was actually going to visit Yunnan last summer, but, with the outbreak of SARS, after a fair amount of discussion it ended up getting rescheduled to this summer. The whole purpose for this trip was to study the Naxi minority group. Unbeknowst to many, many Americans there are actually minority groups in China, most of whom live in the southwest of the country. I (and eleven other students) spent a semester studying this particular group as part of a Freeman grant to Whitman college. To further our study the Freeman association paid for a two week trip to visit all of the places that we had been studying. How can anyone complain about that?! This ended up being a bustling two weeks of rapid travel all over the province.
The trip started in Kunming, one of the fabled locals of Chinese idioms, known as the Spring City. It was given this title due to the fact that it has wonderful weather that is supposed to be like spring all year round. Sadly, I forgot that it rains a great deal in spring and did indeed not pack enough clothing to account for the temperature changes. But, I found Kunming extremely pleasant and dramatically different from Xi'an regardless of the weather.
The first thing you must notice about Kunming are the plants. Lovely green plants that envelope the city in a way that makes me forget how dirty and dusty Xi'an truly is. The next thing that stands out is the copious amount of non-Chinese people. Kunming is basically the center for all backpacking in China (which, as it is easy to imagine, there is a fair amount of) so there are tons of roughly college aged students roaming the streets in search of a bargain. Now this influx of people has also added to the generally relaxed atmosphere of Kunming. It is significantly less traditional than Xi'an. Girls were wearing short skirts and halter tops (a style that in Xi'an is generally reserved for prostitutes) and there were tons of bars, restaurants with English menus and most importantly no one stared at me!!! I don't know if it is possible to explain the sheer relief that occurs from not being treated like you are an animal in the zoo. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to not constantly be reminded that you are different. It was heavenly. I could sit around in a park and play cards without small children pointing at me while everyone else yells "hello!" and then laughs with their friends. The staring is the thing I will miss the least about life in Xi'an and I suddenly found myself still in China without having to deal with it. I didn't know places like this existed.
But, all too soon our tour group was rushed away from Kunming and off to the more minority dominated towns to the north. To get to these towns we went on what I fear was the least comfortable bus ride in my life. We took a very famous road, called the Old Burma road that felt like it had been there for centuries instead of just decades. Apparently in China you don't just rip up a few miles of the highway when you are fixing it, instead you take out the whole thing so that the entirity of the three hour ride is on the bumpiest gravel road known to man. If you read, you get car sick. If you try to sleep, you get car sick. It was terrible. By the time we reached the first town it seemed like paradise.
This first stop was Dali, an interesting town dominated by beautiful architecture. Though I am sure it really is rather old, it had a strange feeling like Disneyland where everything is a little too beautiful to believe. But, then a small child would try to sell you a flower and refuse to leave until you bought it, thereby reminding you that yes, you are not in a theme park. On the whole, it really was a charming city, but my one night there does not make me an expert, so I will leave it at that.
My next major stop (one long bus ride later) was the city that was central to the trip, Lijiang. Lijiang is the essential home of the Naxi minority. Many people speak Naxi in the town and you see the pictographic script on many walls. This was one of my favorite cities. Though it was still a little touristy. There was enough historical and cultural background that it still made you feel like you were in a unique facet of the world. We got to witness Dongba (the naxi priests) perform dances and create ritual objects as well as view the traditional homes and living styles of the average Naxi people. And, amongst all of the intellectual stimulation I also did a fair amount of shopping.
Yet, while in Lijiang, our group also realized just how many people our professor knew. Every day we were in Lijiang a different person who was in someway associated with our professor took us out to lunch or dinner. While this at first sounds really great it meant that we had a banquet style meal for almost every meal for two weeks. In other words, we ate just unbelievable amounts of heavy fatty foods followed by grain alcohol (sometimes steeped in plums) or beer. After every dinner we were all just stuffed. It got to the point where we had gotten into the rhythm of eating copious amounts of food so that if we hadn't eaten for three hours we were all starving. I fear I am going to have to diet just because of my vacation.
After popping into many other miniscule villages of various minorities we made our northern most trip to Zhongdian, a city next to the Tibetan plateau. Zhongdian is primarily a Tibetan nationality city, though it is not actually within the borders of Tibet. The Naxi minority has many associations with Tibetan culture, so our professors though it would be good to also learn about them a bit. I think the thing I learned the most clear is it's really cold in Tibet. The highlight of this leg of our trip was getting to visit a functioning Tibetan monastery. In this monastery there was a living buddha (i.e. a nice man who was chosen as a child to be the buddha for this monastery who chants and meets people almost all day). Unlike many of our travels this actually did not feel very touristy. Which is amazing, since there were hundreds of tourists pouring into this monastery to see the large buddha statues and be blessed by the monks. But, as you walked around the complex you saw the homes of the monks as well as what they did in their daily lives. There were some younger children (I would guess about 10) who had joined the monastery as well as some very old monks and every age inbetween. While wandering the complex I ran into a class that was being held by one of the older monks. He was lecturing in Tibetan while the other monks listened and drank hot yak butter tea and roasted barley (the local staple food, not terribly tasty but a memorable experience). Also, there were many older women with large packs who would bring food to the monastery as gifts. Regardless of the influx of tourists, this place made me realize the vitality of the Tibetan culture in this area of China.
After this last city we slowly wound our way back down (through a few more small village stops) all the way to Kunming. Completing a trip that ranged from viewing farmers harvesting rice crops to artists selling their carvings for about a thousand dollars and every imaginable lifestyle inbetween. It was an absolutely packed two weeks that has left me slightly overwhelmed and astoudingly greatful that it was not cancelled in the first place.
- posted by Anna @ 12:18 AM

 
After Chengdu, I took a quick weekend trip to Luoyang. It is about 5 hours away from Xi'an by train. Luoyang is one of the ancient Chinese capitals and I have heard it spoken of in poem and referenced in literature, but for all this history, I was honestly not too terribly impressed with the city itself. The weather (i.e. pollution) was exactly like Xi'an. It was covered in smog and there were not too terribly many fantastic restaurants. Apparently, all of the people who would normally work in restaurants in a Chinese city all drove cabs in Luoyang. Everywhere you went there was a taxi driver yelling at you to see if you needed a ride. Now, the reason for this might be that the majority of the people who come to Luoyang need a taxi to get to the places of interest, most of which are roughly 12 kilometers out of town. I'm not quite sure how far away 12 kilometers is. Dave often refers to us as bumbling through the metric system, and I fear that is the most true when we are traveling. But, the wonderfully different places of interest just outside the city made Luoyang very worth the weekend trip.
My main reason for wanting to go to Luoyang is, again, to see Buddhas. Luoyang is home to a place called Dragon Gate Grottos an ancient site of Imperial patronage for Buddhist carvings. I've seen many pictures of this place in my art history text books, so I really wanted to see it in person, especially since it is so close to Xi'an. Basically, Longmen (Chinese for Dragon Gate) is a limestone cliff that has been just covered in carvings of Buddha and his attendants. These range in size from 2cm to 17.4 meters. Some are just carved directly on the face of the rock, but many have recessed caves that you can enter to view more closely. Each one is interesting individually, but my favorite thing about Longmen was just the copious amounts of them. When you are clambering next to the caves you miss the sheer scale of the thing. There is probably about three miles of a stretch of cliff face that appears like Swiss cheese due to the sheer number of carvings. Just to imagine the centuries that it took monks slowly detailing the face of the rock baffles my mind.
After Longmen I visited a few more temples, all beautiful and interesting, but the best part of the day was the Water Banquet. Luoyang is famous for its opulent dinner that is composed mainly of soup that come so quickly if flows like water (hence the name Water Banquet). This restaurant was definitely fantastic. The food was exquisite and, I must admit, a tad wasteful. We started with some cold dishes then after about 10 minutes the soups started. They literally did flow like water. I had only made it through maybe the second soup when there were already 10 more bowls to try placed on the table. Each one had a unique flavor and design. I fear it would be impossible to explain the detail that went into their cooking, but it is fair to say that no two were anything alike. Luckily, they provided you with a "dumping bowl" so that you didn't eat an entire bowl of any soup. It would have been impossible since there was a total of 22 courses. I needed another five people just to help me finish all of the food. After just gorging myself on soup (followed by sweet rice and thick dumplings with sweet red bean paste in the middle) my only recourse was to sleep and dream of the sheer grandeur that must have surrounded the ancient Chinese Emperor's and their court.
- posted by Anna @ 8:30 PM

 
One of the greatest things about spending roughly a week in Chengdu is the fact that the area surrounding the city is completely full of entertaining things to do: Tibetan towns, numerous mountains (many with Buddhist or Taoist associations), and tons of historical buildings. But, since it is impossible to do all of them in a week, I had to limit myself to a few highlights.
My first priority in Chengdu was pandas. Basically, I'm a sucker for these adorable animals. I've been to both the San Diego and Washington D.C. zoos, so when I found that Chengdu is basically their headquarters I was hooked. As a general, I do try and dodge zoos in China. They are really nothing but depressing, but Chengdu has a fantastic place called the "Giant Panda Research and Breeding Center." While I am sure this place does do copious amounts of research, it seems like it is basically a glorified zoo. Yet, it is a glorified zoo with copious amounts of funding. There are 37 pandas currently residing in the compound, and since I for once listened to my travel books, I went at 7am to see the pandas feeding. This was one of the best recommendations I've ever had. All of the pandas were awake and the Chinese tourists were not. I got to walk peacefully from enclosure to enclosure without being followed by people staring, yelling at me, or asking me to be in their pictures. And, the enclosures were remarkably beautiful. There were no bars, just large grassy areas with trees and tree-looking structures for the pandas to play on. Between you and the animals was a short wall and then a deep waterless moat (essentially each enclosure was its own little island). At first I was a little worried that the pandas might get a burst of energy and jump over the moat to the wall, but after watching them for the day I think that is basically impossible. Pandas are officially the laziest animals in the world. They just plop down on their backs in a reclining position with a pile of bamboo within arms reach and when that takes too much energy to grab they take a big hunk, put it on their chests and gnaw away for hours on end. Then, once that is too much, they roll over and fall asleep. I witnessed roughly 20 pandas following this precise mode of action. There were even four little ones (about 1 year old) who had more energy, but most of that was spent in wrestling between bouts of eating and sleeping just like the adults. Honestly, it was one of the most relaxing mornings I have ever spent. It is difficult to imagine stress in your life when you are witnessing the art of laziness at its finest.
But, sadly, I was on vacation so there was a distinctive lack of time to be lazy if I was to get done all of the things I wanted to do. Next stop after the pandas was the largest Buddha in the world at Leshan. Now, I've heard that perhaps this is the largest "statue" of a Buddha, but frankly, it was still attached to a mountain and was so large that I believe it easily could be the largest Buddha in the world, bar none. Now, getting to the Buddha was not the easiest of tasks. I was travelling during the height of tourist season, so I had to wait in line for about three hours to get down to the place where I could be near the Buddha's toe (which was longer than my whole body). But, at least during the wait you had a nice view, since you started at the head of the buddha and slowly climbed down the mountain. To where it meets the river. This Buddha was actually created (according to the park signs) by a government official in roughly 400AD so as to calm the river and stop the numerous accidents. I'm not entirely sure it worked since the river is still pretty treacherous, but I like the idea of a time when the government thought building a big statue would solve ecological problems. But, while seeing the Buddha was fun and interesting, I think my favorite part of Leshan was the fact that it was a huge complex of Buddhas set in a park like atmosphere and there was no one there. Most of the people came, saw the big Buddha, and left, so I was allowed to roam free uninhibited in this fun park. It was also extremely entertaining, since all rules like "don't climb on the statue," "stay off the grass" or "no smoking" are really just suggestions in China. So, I got to sit on the ear of the longest Buddha in the world (sort of a cheap rip off compared to the tallest, but you take what you can get) and there are some fantastic shots of me sitting on various Buddha's laps. They had just thousands of Buddhas from various different periods and styles set in numerous different ways all over Leshan. If you are ever in Chengdu, I highly recommend it.
Then, in case I hadn't seen enough Buddhas, my next trip was to Emeishan (also a holy Buddhist mountain). Emeishan has two main features, its high peak (roughly 3,099 kilometers, I'm not sure what that actually means) and its monkeys. I decided to start my climb to the high peak. Climbing mountains in China is often shocking to many foreign visitors, since you aren't walking up a gravel path you are climbing stairs. Slippery old stairs that are usually sloped downward and sometimes a little bit loose. I imagine it took centuries to cover almost every mountain in China with stairs, but it seems to have worked for them. Now, for some reason at the time, the idea of climbing to the top seemed reasonable. I had taken a bus to the closest bus stop to the top, so it shouldn't have been too difficult. Honestly, not a very good idea, there was a cable car I should have just taken since after walking up stairs for an hour and forty minutes my legs were sore for five days afterwards. Once you have reached the summit, you get to view the spectacular scenery and there is a large temple to visit. And, since it is astoundingly colder than the lower levels of Emeishan, you can rent a jacket to enhance your viewing pleasure.
After conquering the peak, it is all downhill. Literally, you get to slowly meander down the mountain and view the various temples interspersed with the lush green trees. It was a beautiful walk down. And, it was interesting to actually get to watch the vegetation and climate change around you. Yet, once you reach the middle of the mountain you are officially in monkey territory, and it is their territory, we are just passing through. When I read in my guide books that there were monkeys on Emeishan I was really excited. I imagined small monkeys swinging through trees in the distance adding to the lovely aura of the mountain. Well, again, I was wrong. First, they were huge. I mean it, huge. About three feet tall, roughly 45lbs. On top of this, they were really aggressive. Even though there were signs everywhere saying "don't feed the monkeys" just like the signs at Leshan, they are really more of a suggestion, meaning that they are completely ignored. So, all of the tourists who think the monkeys are cute have turned them into food stealing pros. They will just come up to people, jump on their bags and start digging through. When they find something (like your water bottle)they take it, bite through it with their gigantic teeth and drink your water. The people who work at Emeishan have to carry around huge sticks to beat off the monkeys if they get too close to people. Plus, these were not clean monkeys. You would see them digging through trash cans and then the Chinese people would send their four year old children to go pet the monkey so they could get a picture. All around, more scary then I ever thought monkeys could be. It was definitely exciting to see them, but I choose not to ever see a monkey in the wild again if I can help it. Hurray for zoos!
All in all, frightening monkeys included, Chengdu was a fantastic trip. The city was beautiful, the sites were entertaining, and I admit that if given the option I would gladly return for a much longer visit.
- posted by Anna @ 7:53 PM

 
Now that this is up and running you are going to get the highly condensed version of my trip to Chengdu:
I decided to go to Chengdu since it was one of the fabulous national holidays that happen in China. This one was called "wuyi" literally 5/1. My students translated it as "labor day" which I don't think was exactly a correct translation, but I took it to mean that it was basically spring break for workers. Now how national holidays work in China is a little different than in America. Instead of it being one day off for a long weekend, it is usually roughly 5-7 days when the entire country is on vacation. So, imagine the traffic home after Thanksgiving, multiply that in your head to account for the larger Chinese population and then put yourself on a train. That was precisely what I experienced on the ride over. Luckily, I chose the comfy soft sleeper so that there was only four people per room and the door actually closed, thereby cutting down on the sheer amount of noise that people make when they are bored on a 12 hour train ride.
In this comfortable position I got to view some of the most spectacular landscape I have seen in China. The north of Sichuan province is truly beautiful and it was this part that the majority of my ride was located in. We rode through sharp jutting mountain peaks surrounded by swirling mist and periodically punctuated by a vertical waterfall that fell directly to the river below. I have a difficult time separating the memory in my head from many of the beautiful Chinese landscape paintings I have seen since the two were so similar. Perhaps all of those arguments for Chinese painters ignoring realism were actually wrong. I felt as if the delicate brushwork of the vegetation in Chinese paintings was more textural than anything else, yet on this ride I found bushes that mimicked the soft strokes. Also, mist in Chinese paintings is sometimes depicted as almost a tangible object. Yet, rolling through the bottoms of these mountains outside my window was the thickest mist I have seen in my life. It seemed that if only I could jump out of the train I would be able to grab a handful of it and put it in my pocket. If given the option I would gladly spend weeks in the national park located in this area.
But, since my trip was only 6 days long I had to focus on some of the regional delights. I decided to highlight my trip with a nice tour of the city of Chengdu, then spend a day at the panda reserve, followed by a quick trip to Leshan and Emeishan (both mountains).
My first impression of Chengdu was that it was more international and frankly, just more beautiful than Xi'an. The air was cleaner, the streets were lined with flowering bushes as well as tall trees, and there was a plethora of international businesses. As a city of 11 million, it is also just bigger than Xi'an. I must admit, if I were to spend another year in China, I wouldn't mind at all if it was in Chengdu. There were many local gardens to visit, which, though packed with people were still nice. And, there is a river that runs through the heart of the city. In the desert like climate of Xi'an, the site of water is always treasured. Plus, it actually had a copious amount of international restaurants. There are probably a total of 10 restaurants in Xi'an that don't serve Chinese food and though I do love the local cuisine, it is nice every once and a while to have something with a different taste.
And, taste is something Chengdu is known for. Many people in America have probably had Sichuan cuisine and since it packs a spicy punch, you would definitely remember it if you had. Well, that is nothing compared to Sichuan food in its capital city. The first day I arrived I went out for hotpot and I don't think my stomach has been the same since. Basically, it was the most spicy food I have ever eaten. And, it ended up being a somewhat awkward lunch, since I was being taken out by the kind work colleague's of a friend's cousin who happens to live in Xi'an. They were nice enough to pick me up from the airport (even though I had never met them in my life) but I fear that they spoke about 6 words in English so it turned into an interesting lunch since I had exhausted all of my polite conversational Chinese on the twenty minute ride from the train station to lunch. So, on top of my struggling linguistics and burning mouth, I also had to deal with the fact that my hosts were just that, fantastic Chinese hosts. That means that they ordered mainly meat (all of which is questionable by American standards) ate almost nothing, and continually forced me to eat more. Of the things I ate that I do know, I had a strange skinny fish (I fear remarkably like the kind we would keep in an aquarium), cow and chicken's stomach lining, duck's intestines, and something that I fear might have been chicken lung (or perhaps heart I was a little confused where my host was pointing). Now, this wasn't a cruel joke. These people were honestly wonderfully polite and by Chinese standards the best of hosts, especially since I had absolutely no idea who they were. So, though the meal had its moments of awkward, it continued to reaffirm my idea that Chengdu is an interesting, international city to be in. And then there were the pandas...
- posted by Anna @ 11:50 PM

 
Okay guys, I have been having trouble getting blogger to publish my writings so this is just a test run. Mom, if you can read this, e-mail me. For the rest of you out there, just hang out for a day or two and I will get back with my exciting adventures in Chengdu and my upcoming weekend excursion to Luoyang. Sorry for the delay!
- posted by Anna @ 7:17 PM

 
A strange phenomenon that I have noticed while living in Xi'an is that the seasons change remarkably quickly. We had about two rainy weeks of fall last semester and then it was suddenly winter. Currenly, there was a comfortable two weeks of spring which has rapidly involved into a surprisingly warm summer. Most days are over 30 celcius, which I guess is around 80 Farenheit. So, it has caused me to notice that my reactions to the weather shift are vastly different than those of the people around me.
To begin with, my first reaction to any weather change is to wear different clothes. I have pulled all of my shorts and T-shirts out from the back of the closet as normal, but apparently I am the only one. Instead of wearing shorts and T-shirts, most women wear skirts. Literally, one day all of the country decided it was time to wear a dress or skirt. I found this a little bit surprising, since I have not seen a woman wear a skirt in roughly 7 months. In China they are strictly a summer outfit. Which makes sense, but the shoe options I'm having a more difficult time understanding. My summer shoe of choice is the well loved flip-flop. Yet, they are almost taboo here because wearing any shoe without socks is just not an option. Many Chinese people believe you will get sick. And, I assume it has something to do with the level of dirt prevalent on the ground. So, to combat this problem women commonly wear a nylon sock inside their sandals. It looks just like knee-highs, only short (ankle level) and they are worn regardless of the clothes. Skirts, pants, whichever, you still wear the nylon sock. I personally find myself having a difficulty in taking the nylon sock plunge, so I tend to just wear my regular shoes and wash my feet when I get home. Plus, to top it all off, sunglasses are basically non-existent. The true icon of summer a rarity. I see them in stores, but no one wears them. How can they see in the bright sunlight? Curious...
Another thing I find interesting is the food choices that people make during the summer. When it gets hot I find myself existing on cold sandwiches, melon, and salad. Here the food doesn't change at all. People have told me that maybe they eat more cold dishes, but when I present the question the main response I get is surprise. Why would you eat something different in the summer? I see many people literally sweating while enjoying spicy hot pot in the middle of the hottest day of the year. It has caused me to have probably my worst cravings for American food yet. I love hot pot, but in this weather, give me a bland turkey sandwich and lemonade any day.
But, the thing I find the most intriguing is the use of the parasol. I really can't think of a more apt way to describe it. They are just like umbrellas, but made of slightly lacier fabrics that would in no way repel water. Women carry these on sunny days to keep the sun off their faces. People in China are consistently trying to whiten their skin. There are often strange ads for products on TV showing women who look like they have been dusted with chalk. And, this isn't a new thing. My first reaction was to assume that this was an influence of primarily white western culture (since you often see ads that display blonde, white women as well), but as it turns out women in China have been doing this for centuries. They used to eat almonds and tofu (because they were white) to try and improve the quality of their complexion. So, to maintain all of their hard work, women resort to the parasol. I have a difficult time not viewing this as a strange reversion to the 19th century. My mental image of women with parasols is in such contrast to what I see on a daily basis that I almost can't resolve the inconsistency. A modern sophisticated woman talking on her cell phone wearing a top that invariably has badly written English and a pair of trendy jeans holding a dainty parasol with embroidered edges. It is a whole new way to view the summer season.
- posted by Anna @ 11:46 PM