Outings (7-7)

I’ve had some enjoyable outings lately. Two weeks ago I went to the 4^th International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage. I’d seen the Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage when riding the bus to Chengdu, wondered what was there, and thought I’d have to stop to see it one day. Then Roger, a student who comes to English Corner,  mentioned that he and his friends had gone to the festival; so I decided that that would be a good time to visit. And it was. I went on Tuesday, since I don’t have classes then and I thought it would be less crowded than on the weekend.

I arrived when the international dancers were performing. I always enjoy those. When I saw that they only have two performances a day, I felt lucky to have arrived soon after they started. Since it was not crowded, I was able to stand in the front row. 

After the  dances, I walked through the exhibit of intangible cultures around the world as well as in China. Then I walked through the shops, which I learned are open all the time, not just for the festival. This is good information, since they have some nice items. In another building there were special exhibits of crafts from around the country. Several artists were demonstrating their talents. (Photo: painting inside a bottle)

By the time I finished, it was almost time for the next dance performance; so I stayed for that. That set featured several Chinese groups.

Since I hadn’t seen the calligraphy exhibit I’d seen advertised, I returned to the festival on the following Sunday. Katy joined me, and we had a great time looking at the art work and some of the exhibits. The exhibit was Brush and Ink: An Exhibit of Chinese Calligraphy. Some of the art was calligraphy; 

some was modern art painted with calligraphy brushes. The latter didn’t look like it had meaning, but maybe it did. The festival was rather crowded, since it was a weekend and it was also the last day of the festival. So we didn’t do much shopping because it was difficult to walk through the area. 

We did stop at the food court area where I had barbecued squid. It was very tasty.

Last Saturday, Megan and I went to Floraland, a local theme park. Several students had written about it in an early assignment to describe a place and Meghan had told us about it; so I knew a little about it. It was fun to see it. We had a great day, as it was overcast and not hot. The entrance ticket includes 36 rides/shows. We went on four rides and saw the seal show. The rides are mostly in one section. The roller coasters and a few other rides weren’t working when we passed them, and a number of the rides are for children. 

The rides were fun but weren’t anything really fantastic.

The rest of the park is areas named and themed for different countries—Italy, Germany, France, Belguim, and China. The U.S. market was near the entrance and didn’t have much. Spain was a little strange, as it had a polar bear outside a building. But the other areas were very well done. Walking into Germany was like being in an old German town. 

Italy featured gardens and a plaza. We had pizza there. I asked for one with vegetables; the woman pointed to one in Chinese and we said OK. It was a fruit pizza with pineapple and a white fruit. At least it had cheese. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t what we were anticipating. A final area is the Wetlands, which has figures of various animals. Most of these areas were for shopping and have stores with a variety of items. The Chinese pavilion featured shops and cafes. We had a great time walking around and taking photos of everything. And doing a little shopping.

When we left, we crossed the street to have a look at the Floraland Mall. It’s a work in progress, as most of the shops are not yet open and the indoor mall is still being constructed. The ones that are open are very upscale—expensive. The outside mall looks like something from Scottsdale, AZ. At the end of the outside mall is the water park, which we did not go to.

So it was a great day. Then we had to wait 50 minutes for a bus back to campus. When one came, we made sure that we got on it. And we were lucky enough to get seats.

Then on Sunday, Katy, Megan, and I went to Chengdu to go to the sports store, as Megan wanted a swimming suit. Our first stop was a shopping mall. Since it was raining heavily and everyone had very wet umbrellas, when we entered the mall, a woman was handing out plastic bags for the wet umbrellas. After a little shopping, we went to Starbucks. Megan was especially happy about that because it would be her last Starbucks for a long time, as they haven’t gone to South Africa yet. Next we went to Subway because Katy wanted a Western sandwich. I have to admit, the veggie sub was delicious. We each bought a foot-long one and took half home for dinner. Then we went to the sports store, which was very nice and has reasonable prices. I ended out being the big spender, purchasing shorts, a swimming suit, sandals, secret socks (foot covers that are hidden in the shoe), a shirt, and a small backpack. Katy and Megan also bought a few item each. So it was a successful and fun day.

When we used a restroom in a restaurant, there was a woman holding her baby above the sink so he could pee into the sink. I’d not seen that before. Katy had mentioned having seen a sign above a sink in a restroom that said “No peeing in the sink.” Now we know why such a sign was posted. Another restroom we used had my first automatically flushing squat toilets.

Wednesday evening we played badminton with Peggie again and had a great time again. She didn’t play much; so I think she went mostly for us although she seemed excited to go.

Friday we all went shopping in Wenjiang. Katy and Megan wanted to look for last-minute purchases to take home. Both bought several items. I didn’t purchase anything that day, but it was fun helping them shop and hanging out together. It was really hot that day; so Katy and I went to the pool when we returned. The water felt good, and it was good to be in it. I’m not much of a swimmer, but it felt good to do a few laps across the Olympic-sized pool. It’s open to the public; so it may be open all summer, which will be nice. I’ll go again.

  

Saturday we went into Chengdu to meet Sabrina, a teacher in Megan’s teachers’ class. The class had given Megan a tea set as their gift, and Sabrina had offered to take her to a tea house for tea tasting. She graciously included Katy and me in the invitation. We took the bus to the Wenjiang bus station and then the bus to Chengdu that stops at the metro. It was a really smooth trip. We didn’t even have to change metro lines.

Sabrina took us to a wonderful tea house near her home. It is beautifully decorated. A young woman prepared the tea. She shook it in a covered cup so that we could smell it. Then she added water to wash the tea. That water was poured into the teapot and then into the small cups to wash them. The first tea is poured out and is not drunk. Then she prepared another pot for us to drink. The tea was a mild green tea. We sat on our sofas and chatted and enjoyed the tea and relaxing music for over an hour. 

We learned that people can have a tea pet, an animal figure that they write their name on and leave at the tea house.

Next Sabrina took us to lunch at a local restaurant known for its delicious local food. It is in a lovely building that was formerly a house. We were fortunate to get a table immediately, since a group had just left. 

Sabrina ordered seven special dishes for us: beef mashed with rice, two types of twice cooked pork, pork/bacon slabs with bean paste between them layered on sweet sticky rice, potatoes and beans, a pot of bean and tofu soup-like mixture, soup, flavored rice. Although I don’t eat the meat, I had a small taste of each because she had selected these special foods for us to taste. The meal was wonderful and was enjoyed by all. Of course, we were not allowed to help pay for anything.

After lunch, we parted from Sabrina and went to Chunxi Road to see if we could find two more items Katy and Megan were looking for. No luck there, as the shops are more expensive and not in our taste. The area was crowded with people. It’s not a place I’ll need to return to. A highlight of our time there was a tea and snack store where Megan bought some tea and looked at some snacks. The saleswoman used her translation app to communicate with her, saying things like “This is peanut candy. It is sweet.” People are good about trying to help, and I’ve often had that type of experience.

Monday I leave for the Peace Corps Summer Project. When I return, both Katy and Megan will have left. I’ll miss the two of them, as both have been good friends. And it’s been nice to have Megan as an older (about 40) friend. We’ll see who comes next term, but I’ll be very surprised if anyone is over 30.

Summer Project is teachers’ training sponsored by Peace Corps. Participating is required for all those completing their first year, and we PCResponse volunteers are also required to participate. I’ll be joining the group in Luzhou. People at the school live in Chengdu and don’t know anything about getting places from Wenjiang and always say you have to go places from Chengdu. Yang had gotten bus directions for me, but the woman coordinating suggested that, if there is a bus station here, I can probably go from there. So, when we were at the station on the way to Chengdu, I asked about a bus to Luzhou and learned that there is one in the morning and one in the afternoon. That won’t save time getting to Luzhou, but it will get me on a bus that goes there an hour earlier than if I’d gone to Chengdu and I won’t have to change buses. So I was happy to learn about that. I'm kind of excited to do this, as I've enjoyed teacher training and it will be nice to meet some other volunteers and work with them.