Mid-vacation update

What a week it has been! There are many stories to tell, a few of which you can hear in more detail at the Weddles' blog. [Note: Eric and Liz have not actually updated their blog in regards to their stay in Chengdu. If you know them, feel free to heckle them until they do.]

So for now, think of this vacation at a "Week of Firsts."

1) First time having an expensive piece of hopelessly lost electronics returned to me. Any pictures from this past week - other than the one below - do not actually come from me, they come from the Weddles camera. That is because on Saturday, when their visit just got started, the camera got accidentally left behind in a pedicab. We did not realize it was lost right away, causing quite a bit of confusion about the incident. So we searched and searched the next day, but came to the conclusion it was gone. On Tuesday, we asked a random pedicab driver if he had heard anything about a camera, and of course he did not. We were out of town for a couple days, and just returned a few hours ago. As we are walking back to our apartment, the pedicab driver - the one we talked to before - runs after us excitedly. Somehow, he tracked down the original driver and got our camera. He pedalled away to get it - leaving us in delicious suspense as to whether it was really our lost camera that he had at home. He pulls up, thrusts a plastic bag towards Rachel, who looks inside and announces that the prodigal camera has returned home. Thank God for the honesty of the good people of out town!

So below is the kind man who brought BIG smiles to all our faces earlier today.

2) First visitors to stay in our China home. Welcome to the Weddles! It is very nice to have visitors here, for obvious reasons. But also, it is nice to have an excuse to go around the city and be tourists for a while.
AND it is nice to get care packages from the US!

3) First visit to the "Intangible Culture Park." Very near our school, there is a large park with a strange English translation for its name. I have no clue why that is its name. It has open green space, which on this sunny Saturday was FILLED with people. They were flying kites, playing games, fishing for tadpoles, and doing all kinds of fun things.

Also in the park is the shell of a European-style street. There is a church steeple and a row of storefronts, all of which are only facades.


This fake street seemed to attract brides like moths to a lightbulb. There were dozens of couples walking around, taking pictures in every possible nook and cranny. Tired brides littered the nearby grass, as they waited for their marathon picture sessions to end.

4) First time Amanda saw our apartment; first banana pudding in China. Thanks to Liz, Rachel got motivated to cook, and made some yummy pudding for us to share!

5) First trip to the tailor to have clothes made. Before this, though, we had to take a visit to the bulk market to buy fabric. If you have ever wanted confirmation about China being crowded, this is the place to come. The streets are PACKED!


After a few hours of wandering, we finally found some nice suiting fabric for Eric. This fall, he will be the handsomest UofC business student around!


Everyone purchased some fabric, which we brought to the other side of town. At the gate of Sichuan University, there is a small, nondescript shop with a GREAT tailor. She has worked with foreigners a lot in the past and I am confident we will be getting some nice stuff.

6) First trip to see the pandas. Just outside the city is the Chengdu Panda Research and Breeding Center. It is the #1 destination for anyone travelling to Chengdu, but we had not been yet.

It was lovely! The weather was perfect - sunny and not too hot. We went in the morning, when the pandas were all out and active. And very, very cute.

We also saw that they live up to their reputation - lazy. They lay back in a semi-reclined position and eat and eat and eat. After awhile, bamboo shavings littered the ground around them.
It is definitely a place worth going back to!

7) First time to drink yak butter and eat yak meat. We went to the Tibetan neighborhood to walk around and eat dinner. Tibetan food is not well known worldwide...for a reason. When your diet is dependent on the yak and on barley, you do not end up making a lot of culinary delights. That being said, the yak was tender and food was decent.

The best part, though, was the restaurant view. Third floor restaurant with old-style wooden windows that opened on to the street below:


8) First time to see a Daoist temple in Chengdu. This week we also visitied a Buddhist mountain that had some temples, so overall we experienced some of the older religious culture of China. I do not love visiting temples, but I appreciate how they preserve the architectural style of China. You miss that a bit being in the big city. Sorry, no pictures - most places it is not allowed.

9) First real domestic trip outside of Chengdu. We have been to Hong Kong (which the airline industry still considers an "international flight", Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. We went on a weekend retreat with our staff to Dijiangyan, but that was forced so I don't really count it either.

So what did we do? We went on an overnight trip to Emei Shan, a famous Buddhist mountain in southern Chengdu. We went partly to scout a potential hotel site for an upcoming school trip, but also for the experience of seeing some of the natural beauty in Chengdu. It was quite lovely!

Nice paths and steps led our way through the mountains to see waterfalls, plants, bridges, gorges, and the mountains on either side of us.


The water was crystal clear. I see now why so many bottles water companies use "mountain spring" or something like that in their name. I will be happy to come back here in May with CDIS and spend a few days.

10) First train ride in China. We had reserved seats, so my fears of standing for hours on an overcrowded train were quickly relieved. It was a fairly painless was to travel. My seatmates passed out the whole trip (drool on the table and everything!) but it seemed like Rachel had some good conversations across the aisle.

11) First time to be given VIP treatment at a hotel. We stayed at a Catholic hotel on a Buddhist mountain. We were VIPs because we stayed and ate for free - and simply because we were the only guests there! The hotel was under renovation to prepare for the spring travel season. It was a little dirty, but a nice place that will serve our school trip well.


12) First time to feed monkeys.


This mountain contains lots and lots of Tibetan macaques. The are semi-tame and a big attraction. However, they are a little scary, because they are very aggressive. One man had his bottle stolen out of his backpack. With a little effort, the macaque was able to get it open and drank the whole bottle in one go.

Vendors sold food fo you to give the monkeys - little packages of corn and dried seeds. The snatch it as soon as they can see it, and run off to eat before a larger monkey can take it away.

13) First time Rachel has to be carted off a mountain by a porter. Unfortunately, Rachel came down with a short-term malady that negatively impacted her gastrointestinal tract. She did not have a fun night. Since she did not eat the whole day, we arranged for her to exit the mountain via pedicab pickup. The pedicab pickup is kind of like the all-purpose vehicle for the Chinese, a way of transporting food, merchandise, luggage, garbage, or in this case, dead weight.


13) First long-distance public bus ride. The train was full for the ride home, so we took a bud. Again, we were nervous - but the bus was much nicer than expected. Nothing like Greyhound - it was way better!!

So now we are home and resting for most of the day. Tonight - hotpot!

-alan