Friday, September 19, 2008

Sunday 9/14/08


We are currently in Cheng’de. It is a strange city. It is both desperately impoverished and disgustingly touristy. It has both a remarkable history and a distinctly artificial feel. Cheng’de was initially the summer retreat of the Imperial family because it is more inland and cooler. So we visited the beautiful summer palace (for those keeping track summer palace number 2 of the trip) where we were accosted by deer that subsist entirely on crackers and ramen. We went to pretty temples and quiet lakes. However, we also went to a college in Cheng’de to speak broken Chinese to students who have studied English since elementary school. We arrived for the tour of the school and there were students marching in uniform everywhere. Some of the Chinese students we talked to asked how often we marched and were incredulous when we said never. The school itself is very new and felt somewhat artificial. The students were all brought in from the countryside to a beautiful brand new school, which is nice, but… I don’t know; it was strange.

We also visited a local artist in his house. His hospitality was astounding and I think fairly representative. In China people are so encouraging to anyone trying to learn their language. They chat, smile, laugh, and compliment at the least provocation. The artist we visited was very talented, very jovial, and very forceful. I ended up being placed (by placed I mean forced very politely into a chair) away from the rest the Carleton students and next to the artist, his wife, and our tour guide. I had considered myself well versed in the ways of awkward conversation but I had not considered how vastly expanded my abilities to be awkward were by speaking in another language. The three other people at the table carried on a conversation on my relative good looks and would wait occasionally for my input. As I had nothing to say on the matter they would instead repeat words like 帅 (handsome) assuming that I did not understand and that with increased volume and repetition everything would become clear to me. It was actually very funny in hindsight.

We are staying in a four star hotel at the top of a long private driveway so that we can look out over the city. Up the driveway from us are giant Buddhist statues carved out of the mountain. (This place also has the largest wooden Buddha in the world as well as a major Tibetan Buddhist temple built for the Dalai Lama during the Qing Dynasty. Both places were incredible.) Last night we walked up to the statues and got to climb up and see all of Cheng’de lit up in front of us. I love the lack of safety laws in China. My route down the mountain was a 30 kuai (4 dollar) roller coaster ride down the mountain in pitch black. By roller coaster ride, I mean a small car on a track hurtling 45 mph down a cliff face with only gravity powering you and less than reassuring nets at the biggest turns. Best 4 dollars I’ve probably ever spent.

The food so far has been good and as today is a major holiday (Mid Autumn Festival) I've had my first sugar since coming to China in the form of moon cakes or red bean paste filled balls of sweet dough. I'll try to post again soon. Feel free to comment if you have any suggestions or email me at randolpn@carleton.edu.

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