Our time in Chengdu was great. It's a city that is decidedly Chinese and yet with all the development that's happened there in the last 5-10 years, I believe it's finding its own place amongst the international cities of the world.
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| Chengdu folks enjoying a morning cup of tea |
Some of the hard things about China (for Westerners) are actually more pronounced there when compared with our home in northeast China. There are more people and each of those people seem louder and more boisterous. They're known to have "spicy" tempers. The taxi drivers are CRAZY. They drive much faster than in Shenyang and have less adherence to the rules of the road. I honestly believe that the car horns in Chengdu are audibly louder than in the northeast. The pollution in Chengdu is consistently not good. In Shenyang we will have 2 days with off the chart terrible pollution followed by a couple days of mediocre and then it clears for a day or two. In Chengdu, the pollution level doesn't seem to spike the way ours does, but it doesn't clear up there either. It's just always kinda bad.
So, these are the things that make Chengdu not a dream to live in. Honestly, we were all too familiar with these parts of life from our time in Chongqing and over the 2 weeks I was there, they were almost endearing. Like, oh yeah! I forgot about how hilariously obnoxiously loud people down here are. They seemed novel and defined our original experience of China and there's a paradoxical comfort in that.
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| traditional chinese medicine shop |
The other true comfort was our dear friends. We stole pockets of time with people we've known for quite a while and it was so refreshing to be with them. They get who we are and remember how we met and what we're all about. I also like that I'm more than just R's wife to them. I know there are plenty of people who feel that way about me here too, but in general in the foreign service you're kind of seen as an appendage, written into someone else's travel orders. I'm not even sure I realized those feelings about the last year in the foreign service, but it was nice to put that on hold for a couple weeks.
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| grabbing breakfast |
Chengdu is the western-most major city in China before you reach Lhasa and you can feel the diversity. There are Tibetans everywhere especially near the Nationalities University and "Little Tibet". There's also a lot of people from northwest China who are Muslims in the region. So Chengdu feels quite diverse for China.
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| a store in the "little tibet" district |
Then there's the food... I don't want to sound like a broken record, but ya'll the food in Chengdu is out of this world. I might give up cooking if I lived there. OK, that's not true because I think people get tired of Sichuan food for every meal for two years straight but for two weeks? We were in heaven. I discovered a new food love- 小龙牛肉Xiao Long Niu Rou -literally translated as "dragon's beef"-just by accident one day. It's this delicious steamed beef seasoned with sichuan peppercorn and red peppers. The flavor and texture was incredible.
I was thrilled that I got to take a Sichuan cooking class while I was there. A language teacher from the consulate gives classes on the side and she was wonderful. We actually did the lessons with her parents in their home. Her mom set out with us for the market and taught me how to buy all the ingredients. I really appreciated this because I've taken a couple lessons or cooked with Chinese friends in the past and then I never know what to buy. They also told me what to purchase in Chengdu that wouldn't be available in the Northeast and my huge jug of broad bean paste actually survived the plane ride home.
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| spicy tofu lessons! |
Then her dad gave me extensive lessons on using the Chinese cleaver. These people do literally everything with these knives- it's incredible. I'm on the market for one now.
We made spicy toufu, spicy pork & bean sprouts, and kungpao chicken. Mom would cook on one burner and I was assigned the wok next to her. I think after cooking a few different times over the years I could actually replicate these dishes with some accuracy now. I just need to practice!
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| one of the restaurants in the wide & narrow alleys area |
Anyways, beyond the Sichuan food we also enjoyed eating at a yummy middle eastern restaurant and din tai feng, a taiwanese soup dumpling restaurant (that I made mention of when we visited the original in Taipei). Maybe cuisine will be what steers us around the world- only going to posts with delicious local fare is not a bad way to live life.
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| gate in the wide & narrow alleys area |
While R was working hard, I did my best to get out and see the touristy parts of the city that we never made it to when we visited Chengdu in the past. Honestly we've gotten a little worn out on Chinese tourist attractions over 4 years, but I was impressed by one spot the Wide & Narrow Alleys. It's clearly been renovated and refurbished but it's distinctively local. Each storefront is a beautiful Chinese gated doorway. There are some really unique stores with incredible gifts at every price point- R and I pined after an antique wooden carving of the traditional chinese character for the word "book" until we discovered that they were asking $1600 USD for it. We went home with a coffee mug with all of the different dialect slang written on it, a lovely affordable memento for my husband who relishes any chance to practice his sichuan-hua.
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| monks worshipping at wenshu |
I also enjoyed wandering through the Wenshu monastery. It's a rather large buddhist complex with several buildings and dormitories and many monks that live there. I have a hard time appreciating the wafting incense but some of the gardens proved a quiet place to get alone with my thoughts and scripture and retreat a bit. For some reason those 2 weeks in Chengdu found me really connecting with the Lord a lot and I'm thankful I had the space for that now that I've started the 9-5 schedule.
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| gardens in the back of wenshu |
R has one more week to go of his TDY but we're meeting up this weekend to celebrate our anniversary so I'll have more to share with you next week about our getaway!
Chengdu Short List:
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| delicious dumplings and dragon's beef |
EAT:
- At any and every hole in the wall Sichuan food restaurant you can find! Favorite dishes include but are not limited to: 麻婆豆腐，水煮肉片，盐煎肉，干够辣土豆片，鱼香茄子，干煸四季豆，宫爆鸡丁
- Try to find some 小龙牛肉. My favorite sampling was at 宽窄巷子 (wide & narrow alleys) at a shop called 茶马江湖(cha ma jiang hu).
- Safari- 7 Kehuazhonglu 301 Jinyinhui 3F, Chengdu 成都 科华中路7号金英汇3栋301Phone: (028) 67638282 really well decorated middle eastern restaurant. The chef is from Dubai and the falafel, hummus, and baba ganoush were great. Maybe not the best in the world but great for China.
- Din Tai Feng 鼎泰丰 2/F, Raffles City Plaza, Section 4, South Renmin Rd. 人民南路四段3号来福士广场2楼 soup dumplings! Mango-shaved ice! wish they would come to Shenyang!
- Cakey Butta- 29 Zijing Dong Lu 紫荆东路29号 phone: (028)62030723/13438074156
I didn't mention this in my post but a friend from my student days in Chongqing has opened up a fabulous dessert bar with hand-crafted specialty cocktails and the best cheesecake in Chengdu. I went there twice during my Chengdu stint and highly recommend it for those with a sweet tooth!
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| wenshu monastery |
SEE:
- "Chengdu Research Base of Panda Breeding" http://www.panda.org.cn/english/ The pandas at the panda research center- you will forever be disappointed to see pandas in an American zoo because there are so many doing so many fun things at the panda base! It's a must!
- Wide & Narrow Alleys- 宽窄巷子 beautiful Chinese architecture & great place for a nice dinner out, hunt for souvenirs or just to window shop!
- Wenshu Monastery- lovely buddhist temple right in the middle of the city. The streets nearby have old noodle shops and Chinese medicine stores lining them as well as some touristy places.
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