Qingcheng Mountain (6-16)

Saturday and Sunday Megan and I went to Qingcheng Mountain, which is about an hour from Wenjiang. We had planned to take a bus from Chengdu. Then we decided to take the train from Chengdu. We also decided to take the more expensive bus from the Wenjiang bus station instead of the city bus because it goes to a station near the train station. Then we decided to ask at the bus station if there was a bus directly to Dujiangyan, the city near the mountain where we would spend the night. We were very happy to learn that there is a direct bus. That saved us 2+ hours, since we didn’t have to go to Chengdu and then retrace some of the route. It also saved us money. So this was a great start to our adventure.

The hotel we stayed at does not have an English name; so I correctly figured that there wouldn’t be much English spoken there. Our original choice listed on c-trip does not have a license for foreigners. When I made the reservation, a woman called with this information and found a hotel for the same price. I had the name and address printed in Chinese for the taxi driver. This was also handy when we were checking in to confirm that it was the correct hotel. The receptionist wanted to charge us 100 yuan more for a room with a queen-sized bed than the price I was given. So I called c-trip and spoke to a woman who speaks excellent English. She talked with the receptionist and resolved the problem; she didn’t know about the online promotion. This was the second time I’ve used c-trip, and both times they were very good about resolving problems. But the receptionist still wanted 80 more yuan. A young woman we had chatted with briefly when we arrive had returned and explained that the extra money was the deposit. So all was fine.

The young woman had returned to invite us to go to the mountain with her and her boyfriend in their car. Of course, we took them up of the offer. Thus we met Karen/Gan and Zhu, with whom we spent the whole day. She is 25 and is just finishing her master’s degree in international business and will graduate at the end of the month. She has a job with an international company based in Wenjiang. He is 32 and works, but I didn’t learn what he does. The two of them have been dating for only half a month but seem to get along very well. They are both very nice and treated us extremely well.

Qingcheng Mountain is one of the major sacred Taoist mountains in China. It is said to be the birthplace of Taoism and has many Taoist temples on the front side. The oldest were first built in the 7^th century. An interesting factoid I learned from one Internet site is that the mountain is the one Kung Fu Panda went to in KFP2. It is 1260 meters/4134 feet high and has 36 peaks. This means that you walk up and down and around the various peaks on the way to the top.

Megan and I had planned to take the cable car up the front side of the mountain, our destination of the day, and then walk down. However, Karen and Zhu planned to walk both ways; so walking is what we did. The path is lined with trees, and the mountain is known for its gingko trees. 

There were thousands of steps up the mountain. Most were stone, and some were uneven and different widths; so climbing up the steps was not easy. Some sections were very steep. I missed the bamboo walking stick I had on Emeishan.

We walked for two hours and then stopped for lunch. On the way up, Zhu bought us each a fan because we were sweating. Later he bought us a cucumber. (They are snacks here.) He also bought lunch for everyone. Megan and I enjoyed having someone who could order food, as we ate better than if we had done it ourselves with our very limited Chinese.

At the temple where we had lunch there is a 2000-year-old gingko tree. 

After lunch, we headed up the mountain for two more hours. 

Then we finally reached the top. It was an overcast day, so we didn’t have stunning views. That seems to be my fate so far when I’ve been on the top of a mountain here.

Megan and I had decided that we would take the cable car down and pay for Karen and Zhu, as we were both tired and hot. We could have walked down if we’d had to, but it would not have been enjoyable after the rigorous trek up the mountain; so the riding option was much more appealing. Zhu and Karen drove us back to the hotel and then returned to Chengdu.

We decided to eat dinner before going to our room. A woman I asked about a restaurant pointed across the street. There was a whole street of small cafes. A group of people were eating in one; so we went to look to see if they had anything we might want. They were delighted to have us look and kept pointing to some of their dishes. Along with several meat dishes, they had a soybean dish and an eggplant dish that we ordered. I’d never had a meal of cooked soybeans. It had a little too much pork sauce for me, but the beans out of the sauce were good.

When we got to the hotel, the electricity was off in the area. But the mall across the street must have a great generator because their music was playing loudly and women were doing their aerobic dancing outside the mall. The electricity came on again after an hour and a half.

Sunday morning we checked Megan’s bag at the bus station and headed to the back side of the mountain. Megan’s friend had said to line up for the gold bus, but we didn’t see any and didn’t see any signs. So we asked. The first man pointed. Then we went to the information desk, and the woman pointed to the ticket-purchasing area. Shortly after we got in line, a man ran over to us and asked where we wanted to go. We pointed to the map on the wall where it said “back side of Qingcheng.” He took us out of line and up to the window and said “money.” I gave him the money, and he purchased our tickets and took us to wait for the bus. When it arrived, he took us over to it. We felt fortunate to have such good assistance.

We had read that the back side isn’t as crowded as the front side, that the path isn’t as rigorous a walk, and that the path goes along a stream with lots of waterfalls. I think it’s been discovered, as there were about as many people as we encountered on the front side and the path along the stream was packed with a steady stream of people. Qingcheng is an hour outside Chengdu and is the closest natural environment to the city. So many people seem to have driven out for the day. As for being an easier path, it was for the first hour along the stream, which makes it cooler. 

But then it ascended up the mountain steeply. However, the path is paved and the steps are even and are paved steps, not uneven stones. Since our calves were tight from the walk on Saturday, the uphill climb was difficult. It was farther and took more time than we had realized. 

After walking two and a half hours, we reached the cable car down. Since we needed to pick up Megan’s bag before 5:00, we were on a time crunch; so we asked how much farther it is to the top of the mountain and were told that it would take another hour or two. 

And since we were tired and the day was overcast—so no stunning views from the top, we decided to call it a day and take the cable car down. But first we had an ice cream and relaxed in a soft chair for a bit. 

On the ride down, it was fun to look down and see the stream and path we had walked along on the way up. 

At the bottom of the back side there is an ancient town. It’s mostly shops selling souvenirs. 

Many shops sell the meat that Karen had said is a specialty of Qingcheng. It’s pork that is smoked or something and is similar to bacon when served.

Back in Dujiangyan, we purchased our ticket home. There was a line to Wenjiang; so it was about 40 minutes till we got on a bus. We were glad to have a seat on a bus returning directly to Wenjiang, not to Chengdu. After arriving, we crossed the street and hopped on a bus that would bring us back to the school. Unfortunately, it broke down, but it was close to the school and we knew where we were. We took a taxi the rest of the way.

All in all, it was a good weekend. But we agreed that doing both the front and back in the same weekend was too much. Perhaps if we’d taken the cable car up the front, as planned, we would not have been so tired and had aching calves on Sunday. I think it would be nice to return in the fall when the leaves are changing. So I may get there again now that I know how to do it.

Frustrations and Fun (6-14)

Bureaucracy at its best has gotten to us this week. A teenage girl who was friendly with Katy last term has become crazy and pounds on her door and then demands to be fed once she is inside. Recently, when Katy didn’t answer, she pounded for half an hour and then pounded on Megan’s door. When Megan was nice and tried to help her, she walked in and started to pick up things and demanded to be fed. Eventually, Megan called Yang, who ran to the building and talked to the girl, who was now contrite and crying. She is banned from the building. (This is the short version.) As a result, our visitors now have to sign in and call us so we can go to meet them at the door. Yang’s first new policy was that the security guards would call her, she would call us to see if we know the person, and then she would call the security guards and tell them it is OK for the person to come in. It seems that reactions always go overboard. She doesn’t need to be involved and have to stop what she is doing to make the calls. We were happy when she agreed to allow the guest to call or text us.

We have had to let her know if we are staying elsewhere overnight, which is not a problem. Recently, we were told that we must now give two days notice so she can pass the information on to the people above her who now want to know what we’re doing. And the notification must be handwritten and signed. When I wrote a note informing them of Megan’s and my Saturday night plans, Yang called and I had to return to her office and write when we were leaving and returning. Saying we’ll be staying at the hotel was not enough notification that we will leave Saturday and return Sunday. And then she called Megan.  Megan was irritated that Yang had called her three times during her class only to learn when she returned the call that there was no emergency; Yang just wanted to tell her to be safe.

We have to submit our final exams to Peggie. In this process, I learned that my classes are informal classes, for which students receive less credit than formal classes. So I can do only oral exams for the oral English classes. However, Katy’s classes are formal classes; so she has to give an oral and a written exam for the oral English classes. And they have to be on an official document with a letterhead. And she has to have two written exams with answer keys for each class in case some students are absent and need to make it up later. The specifications for the written exams are very particular, and Katy had to rewrite hers four times.

Wednesday was the Dragon Boat Festival holiday; so it was an official day off. In Chinese style, Tuesday and Thursday classes were also cancelled to make a three-day holiday. It was originally supposed to be a five-day holiday—three days plus a weekend—but that was changed. So on Saturday we had Tuesday classes. Fortunately, I don’t have any that day; so it was a normal Saturday. Sunday we had Thursday classes. Monday was normal, but it really felt odd to have Monday classes following Thursday classes and before three days off. Friday there are also classes before the weekend. It’s really confusing. We don’t know what day it is these days.

A special sweet for the Dragon Boat Festival is zongzi, sticky rice with bean paste, sesame paste, or meat inside, all wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. It’s similar to such sweets in Thailand but with different contents inside. I had to buy a few. When I went to the market one day, women were preparing zongzi to sell.

Another special food is Hundred Year Old Eggs. Katy was given some goose and duck eggs by one of the teachers in her class. 

She opened the container and cracked three eggs open for us to see. They are like rubber. No one wanted to eat them, but it was fun to see them.

The high school students from the earthquake zone left on Monday. Sunday night there was a program for their leaving. I didn’t know about it until I went for a walk and saw many students walking and carrying their stools. Then I ran into a couple of my students who told me what was happening and invited me to join them. One girl said she didn’t want to go but attendance was mandatory. When I suggested that no one would miss her with so many people there, she said the class monitors would be checking. The program was at the stadium, and the field was packed solidly with students. When we got there, we had to look for the girls’ class, as students were seated with their class. The three of us shared their two stools briefly. Then a boy in front of us gave me a stool. When the light rain started again, one girl borrowed a hat for me because she thought my head should be covered and an umbrella obstructed people’s view. The program featured several modern dances about the earthquake. It was difficult to see the performances above people’s heads, since much of the dancing was low, not standing. The students gave the university a city flag and a large plaque. One group signed to a patriotic song, and the teachers read a poem and sang. It all took two hours, which, after some of the Thai programs I sat through, seemed reasonable. I was glad I went with the girls, as it was a good opportunity to hang out with them.

On Wednesday, Peggie invited us to play badminton with her and Ryan, as they had duty and were on campus during the holiday. Katy, Megan, and I joined them. We went to the Financial University campus to play. Katy and Megan had never played badminton, and I hadn’t played for about fifty years. Megan, however, is an avid tennis player and caught on quite quickly. It was good exercise and we had a great time. I learned that the new building beside the office building is a gymnasium that will have indoor tennis, basketball, and badminton.

Thursday Katy, Megan, Amanda, and I went to an art street in Chengdu so Katy and Megan could do some before-going-home shopping. Megan bought a lot of embroidered items—wine bottle covers, hot pads, small bags. It was fun to assist her shopping. Katy found a couple items for herself, which was nice. 

After shopping, we had lunch at a Western-style restaurant they had all been to. I had a burrito as something different. Not surprisingly, it was nothing like a Mexican restaurant burrito, but it was passable. Katy recommended the milkshakes, which were, indeed, delicious. 

After lunch, I went to the Peace Corps office to pick up my meds (calcium, vitamins). The ponds inside the university gate were full of huge lotuses. Beautiful!

I had my oral English classes do informal feedback about the class. Two classes rated it from 1 (very easy) to 10 (very difficult). In both classes, two-thirds of the students chose 4-6. And one-third chose 5. Each class had six or seven students who rated it below 4 and three or four who rated it above 6. This would not indicate that students think the class was too easy, which we have been told. Comments about what was helpful all mentioned that the speaking for a minute in front of the class was very helpful because they now feel more confident to speak English and to speak in front of the class. Comments about how the class can be improved mostly mentioned playing games. Showing videos was also mentioned. A few mentioned using the book more, and a few mentioned using it less, as the topics are not interesting. Some mentioned group work, which we have done a fair amount of. Role plays were also mentioned. All in all, I was pleased with their assessment of the level of difficulty and comments about how they feel that their oral English has improved.

The written English class evaluation was similar. Ten students chose 5, eight chose 6-7, and four chose 2-4. Comments about how the class can be improved included more types of articles/essays and more activities to make it more fun. Several mentioned that learning about pre-writing was helpful, that my corrections were helpful, and that correcting sentences was helpful.

There was a special art exhibition in the Arts Center. It had some really nice scroll paintings and some oil paintings. The latter were mostly of Tibetan people. I really liked some of the scrolls.

With the warmer weather and longer days, more people are out walking in the evening, especially after 7:00. People from the community outside the campus come to walk. It’s a nice place for walking with the trees and no—or very little—traffic.