As for Chengdu I really like it. Its totally different in almost every way from he states, and Europe, but it's interesting. There are all sorts of animals roaming the streets, and the people are really crazy. Men sit in restaurants without shirts on, and everyone is always smoking. The streets are also very odd. There are tons of bikes and vespas all over the place, and they ride on both the streets and sidewalks, which is very uncomfortable for pedestrians (at least for me it is). The coolest thing may be the giant statue of Chairman Mao in the middle of town. Its just really interesting to see how this society still idolizes him, and he is still revered as a great man to the local.
Despite all of these things I am enjoying myself. I saw a Sezchan opera last night (which was awesome). The opera was different from traditional European ones in that the acts were all completely different from one another. One act was with regular actors, and then the next was a man doing hand shadows. There was even an entire act with puppets. The coolest was this scene with the actors changing their masks instantly. They would wave their hand over their faces, and suddenly their faces would change color. It was really spectacular. I think my favorite was the shadow puppets. While it seems kind of dumb, I will assure you it was entertaining, and impressive. The man made a perfect dog, then a perfect rabbit, and then made the dog eat the rabbit
Today I went to see a Panda Bear research center. I(t was really cool, and informative. The Pandas were very cool, and very docile. There were a ton of them just playing and eating, it was pretty cool. I would recommend it to people, and that comes from a guy who doesn't frequent the zoo too often.
After I came back from the Pandas, I went to the WenShu Monastery. It was so cool. everything was golden, and everything was so colorful and just done really well. I can't really describe it too well, but every thing in the entire monastery was as ornate and elaborate as possible. They went out of their to impress their Buddha, and while I'm not sure what his take is I can say I was impressed.Later tonight I saw the ZaoJue Temple, which was kind of dilapidated, and not that cool. It was going for the same effect as the WenShu Monastery, but really just couldn't pull it off.
As for the food in Chengdu (or really the Sezchan Provence) it is too spicy. The common food in China is not General Tzao's Chicken. It is this "Hot Pot", which is kind of like a fond due, only with all sorts of crazy things (brains, intestines, feet etc.). The idea is to dip all of the food in this boiling oil, and then eat it. Well Jake and I decided to go with the vegetables and some simple beef instead of the usual brains. Second of all we stressed we didn't want it to be too spicy, as Jake was told Chengdu is infamous for being the spiciest food in all of China. Well, it was the spiciest thing I ever put in my mouth. I spent the entire time crying and sweating. It was unbearable. It was so bad that tonight while we were having dinner we just had to stop and leave before we were full or out of food. We were just not enjoying how spicy it was. The really funny thing about how spicy the food is, is that it is so spicy the locals have to add this spice that numbs the mouth in order to eat the food themselves. So, while your eating your mouth is drugged to go numb so that you can stand the food.
Anyway, I'm off to Xi'an tomorrow, and look forward to what else will come my way.
1 comment:
fuck it, i'll comment. i do wish i were there. because right when i would normally ditch you guys and fly home it would be time to go anyway!
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