Peach Blossom Festival (4-6)

Two weeks ago the Peace Corps group (Yienfanh, Chris, April, who is an honorary member of the group, and I plus Carl) went to Wenshu Monastery in Chengdu. It’s the oldest and largest in town. And it’s free, which surprised me. 

I especially enjoyed the architecture of the large temple. 

And the grounds are lovely. 

After walking around the monastery, we walked around the old, reconstructed neighborhood outside it. It’s full of shops, of course, but was pretty low key. 

There were a lot of bicycle vendors in the area.

Last Monday Paul and Dan were “invited” to play basketball with the university president. It was really a command performance. Neither had played basketball before, but both managed to run up and down the court and look like they knew what they were doing. And both had fun. Some of the teachers play weekly, and sometimes the president joins them. Paul and Dan are now expected to join them, too. I was invited to take photos, which I happily did.

On Monday afternoon Jane called and informed us that the waiban would take us to see the famous peach blossoms in LongQuan on Tuesday. I’ve learned that it’s traditional to take a trip around the Tomb Sweeping Festival to celebrate the coming of spring. Our classes were cancelled for the occasion. We traveled in one of the teachers’ buses, which was a bit much as there were only 8 of us in it. (Two were in Mr. Huang’s car and two met us there.) I guess the school van wasn’t available. 

When we arrived in LongQuan, we had lunch at a nice restaurant. It was the usual wonderful 15-dish banquet. These are always fantastic, and I continue to be amazed at the dishes I haven’t encountered before. 

One new food for me was jellyfish, which was not a favorite but was interesting to try.

After eating, we walked up the mountain to view the peach blossoms up close. Unfortunately, the peak blooming was the week before. During that time, the whole mountain is pink with blossoms. But there were enough on the trees for us to enjoy. 

And the views of the mountainside were magnificent. And it was just nice to be out in the fresh air and have the informal gathering with everyone. 

One highlight was an old man who was sitting beside the road taking the metal out of plastic containers to sell it for recycling. 

We walked past two graves in an orchard. When I took a photo, Peggie said that no Chinese person would do that because it’s bad luck. I explained that for me it’s culture, which was OK.

After walking for 45 minutes, Jane said we should head back to be sure we got there in time. We arrived back at the restaurant at 2:30 and waited till our 4:00 departure time, as the driver wasn’t in the bus. That was frustrating, as we could have enjoyed more walking. But, all in all, it was a wonderful day.

My new class of psychology majors finally met last week. The girls in the front apologized for not having been there the week before because they didn’t know about the new class. It certainly wasn’t their fault. They had expected Sigve to be their teacher, as he teaches the other class of psychology majors, and were surprised to see me. When I suggested going to the Foreign Language Department and telling them that the class wants Sigve, not me, they were aghast and said, “We want you.” It was fun to tease them a bit.

When I went to the office last week, there were two huge, new potted plants. They really are trying to make it nice. This week there were three new chairs along the end wall, perhaps because it has been noticed that I have the large discussion group on Monday. It was nice for the girls not to have to move all the chairs and to be able to leave a couple for other people who might come in to work.

I added office hours on another day and five girls, two from the psychology class, showed up to talk. I was surprised. I’m happy to be there and enjoy chatting with them.

Spring flowers are out on campus and in the park along the river. I love seeing them as I walk around. 

I also enjoy the newly green willows along the river.

The food market I go to for vegetables and fruit is gone. Two weeks ago it was closed. Last week the buildings were being dismantled. I’m sad about the closing, as I enjoyed shopping there and had a several vendors, such as the tofu woman, I bought from regularly. Some vendors have moved into shops across the street, but most are gone. I wonder what has happened to them, where they will sell their goods now. As for me, I can go to the street market near the back gate. Most things I buy are there, but I liked the layout of the market.

This weekend is a three-day holiday (Saturday to Monday) for the Tomb Sweeping Festival. For me, it's a four-day weekend since I don't have classes on Friday. Traditionally, people go to the cemetery to clean the graves and honor their ancestors. I learned that some take paper money, and even mahjong, to burn to honor them. Most of the students do not go home for this holiday. After braving the hoards of people traveling last year, I decided not to do that again and am having a very quiet weekend at home.