We and about 500,000 of our closest friends chose Chengdu, Sichuan Province as our travel destination during the Chinese National Week. We were allowed to take 7 days off because we made up Thursday and Friday's classes the previous Saturday and Sunday (the entire country does this) which completely messes up which class is getting which lesson but no one else really seems bothered by this. National week celebrates the day China became a republic and adds the American "Day after Thanksgiving" element of a huge shopping holiday (remember, China is working on its market economy). Fortunately we found ourselves a nice guest house tucked in an alley to escape the hoards of people at the end of each day.
One of the undoubted highlights of our trip was a visit to the Panda Preserve. It's hard to understand why watching 4 large bears lounge against a log and eat massive quantities of bamboo is so enthralling, but it truly is, even in a downpour. I realize I can see that kind of mess made at breakfast time right in my own apartment, but somehow it is not the same. The seven baby pandas in a crib were remarkably helpless and darn cute.
As indicated in the title, we also found our way to the Sichuan Opera which combines acrobatics, elegant costumes, vaudeville, and some astounding musical solos on the Chinese Erhu (2 string)-which should put the players of 4 and 6 stringed instruments to shame. Li liked the fact that they gave a 4 inch cushion to sit on so she could see!
We decided to travel to LeShan one day to see the famed Giant Buddha since we couldn't quite imagine what 71m of carved godlike creature might look like. It's not that we didn't remember it was a holiday week, but our brains couldn't grasp the enormity of the crowds. We had a quintessential Chinese experience of "standing" in line for hours. As we discovered, the Chinese are incapable of waiting for anything. So though we were in a narrow line with metal railings, you had to guard your position fiercely lest the people behind you elbow their way past you to get a few spaces ahead in a 3 hour line! It was both amusing and annoying. So we simply began to rest our hands on the railing on either side of us to prevent people from pushing past us-this made us unpopular, but gave a brief respite from the constant shoving and pushing from behind.
Most of the rest of our week we spent wandering the streets of Chengdu and stumbling on adventures like the Chengdu Amusement Park. We went there looking for a geocache, which was no doubt removed when the overgrown bamboo was cleared away, but enjoyed ourselves on vomit inducing spinning cars and a log ride. We spent a lot of time in the parks people watching and holding tight onto our backpacks. Our map wasn't exactly to scale so we also spent a lot of time bribing Li to keep walking "just a bit more" to find a bus stop or a destination. She averaged 4-5 miles a day of reluctant walking. One day we ended up in the center of the city when the fountains began their dance choreographed to music under the watchful eyes of the Mao statue. Though there were hundreds of kids, Li was the only one soaked by the end of it. Her fatigue dissipated as she twirled and sang and jumped among the water spray, until the walking resumed that is.
We ate Sichuan hot pot, giant fruit cake, burgers at our guest house, and admittedly, drank some Starbucks (same prices as the US!). One night the owner of the guest house took us and two Danish families out to dinner at a local restaurant (8 adults versus 9 children, you guess who won). We saw Buddhist and Taoist temples. We all acquired a few new clothes and purchased the first Harry Potter book to begin reading to Li. And of course we people watched.
Shana got a haircut the day were were departing. For $2 I got a 10 minute head and scalp massage, two kinds of shampoo and conditioner, 4 "stylists" talking about what to do with me, a 45 minute haircut of incredible detail and precision, lots of photos taken by the stylists and more attention than I have ever had in a beauty salon. I may end up bald by the time I come home just to keep getting the scalp massages! Steve meanwhile, unwilling to give up more hair, read Chinese beauty magazines and watched the soap opera and infomercials on TV. Li watched the stylists.
The pictures tell the rest of the stories.
No vacation for another three months-it just doesn't seem right!
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