Interesting Food

"Interesting Food"
January 19, 2010

What a busy, yet relaxing day we had today! First thing this morning we went to a park that had over 160 types of bamboo. There was a beautiful pagoda we got to walk up inside. While we were at the park, we saw many older Chinese folks. Many were retired. We saw many playing badminton as well as doing Tae Kwon Do. There were some people dancing together as well. We came across a large group, about a hundred or so, of people dressed in Chinese clothing doing Tai Chi.They were kind enough to let us jump in and give it a try. It is much harder to do than it looks! The Chinese people make Tai Chi look so graceful, and smooth. I gave up after about 3 or 4 minutes. Victoria enjoyed it though.

After the park we visited Chengdu University. The university has over 80,000 students. It is one of the 4 best in China. We took a picture with a large Mao Zedong statue at the university. We walked through a chemistry building as well. The building reminded me of a 1970’s psychiatric hospital on a horror movie. The smells from the chemicals were very strong. Looking into one of the labs, it was easy to see that they were about 20 years behind the US in chemistry technology. The university seemed old and dirty, even though it isn’t as old as Wofford. We found out there are more honors students in China than total students in the US, how crazy!

Once we left the central campus, we drove to a kindergarten located just within the campus gates. We tried to see if the headmaster would let us tour the kindergarten but she wouldn’t.

We left the kindergarten and went to the silk brocade. We got to see how silk was made in looms. It was so facisinating and interesting to think how the Chinese invented this machine thousands of years ago.

For lunch today we went to a nice Chinese Restaurant. Many of the other students did not like it because only one or two meat dishes were served. They didn’t feel full and satisfied. I was happy though because there were many things I could eat! I thought it was delicious!

We went to a local market after lunch. This market appeared to look very old stylish Chinese, with all the shops looking like pagodas and detailed architecture. We shopped around a little bit, but decided since there was no haggling it was best to wait until Beijing to get good deals.

We came across a photo stand in which people dressed up like Chinese people from the Han dynasty. They would then take pictures and print them out for a small fee. Victoria convinced Emma, another girl, Rachel and me to do it. We had individual pictures taken, and a picture with the four of us, and then a “Theta Picture”. We’re hoping to send in a bunch from China and get in the Theta Magazine! We had so much fun dressing up. The ladies put our hair in chopsticks and everything! We drew such a crowd. There had to be 50-60 people standing around watching us have our pictures taken. Many were taking pictures of us themselves, or videotaping us. American girls are just so interesting to these Asian people! It was so much fun. You can tell in all our pictures that we are laughing and enjoying every moment.

While we were at the market we noticed a Chinese minority. These people we dubbed “Chindians”. They looked like a combination of Indians and Chinese people together. It was so interesting. They dressed like the Amish people from the US. So different!

I also got Starbucks at the market! Thank goodness for a taste of home. I am not too fond of the Sichuan spicy food.

We left the market and headed back to the hotel. Victoria, Emma and Rachel went to get massages, while I took a short nap. We left for dinner, which was at a conference center in Chengdu. We had been told we would be eating “Sichuan Snack” foods, or as our tour guide said “Snake” foods. His accent is so strong! We got to this restaurant that reminded me of a Chinese dungeon. We were served 12 dishes with small portions. One had rabbit, while others included congealed duck blood, eel, and bland tofu. I was served all vegetarian dishes, but I did not enjoy any of them. The tofu here was absolutely disgusting. Everything was either tongue numbing spicy, contained meat, or had an eyeball jelly like consistency. Most people were so ready to leave the restaurant and did not enjoy it at all! What an experience though!

We came back to the hotel to pack up our things. Instead of taking a train to Xi’an we’re flying. Our plane leaves around 9 A.M. Our trip in Chengdu is cut a day short. Most of us are not complaining because we are ready to get out of this city! It is not as touristy as Shanghai, and we’re not fond of our tour guide.

Listed below are his pronunciations of English words,”bless his heart”, at least he’s trying.

Panda: Pander
Buddha: Buddher
Checked Luggage: Chicken Nuggets
Snack Food: Snake Food