Giant Buddhas and Giant Pandas

This past weekend Christa, Laura, and I traveled to Chengdu by plane.  You can see pictures from around Chengdu, at the giant Buddha, and the Pandas.  The trip was a lot of fun, yet at the same time incredibly frustrating.  Difficulty in communication was a real obstacle in getting around the city and even finding a decent bite to eat.  The taxi drivers were very unhelpful and on more than one occasion took us on a wild goose chase around the city.  One possibility is that they just really didn’t know where they were going, which is frustrating in and of itself (seriously, why does it seem like taxi drivers in America are the only ones that know where they are going?).  Another theory is that these particular drivers figured they could take the stupid tourists on the “scenic route” to run up the meter.  Neither scenario seems very pleasant.

Nevertheless, our trip to Chengdu was a good one.  We got to see some great sites (uhm, the largest Buddha in the world anybody?) and experience a whole new city.  Yes, in Chengdu everyone speaks Chinese just like in Xi’an.  However, since we were tourists in this city we got to see a different side of it.  Unfortunately it’s the side that pretty much every other tourist gets to see, but it was still an exciting new experience.  And let’s not forget that Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan province, which means that everything was spicy and delicious.  Well, definitely spicy, not everything was delicious:

Spicy snails, yummy! (not really)

The snails didn’t actually taste like anything.  They weren’t slimy or totally disgusting.  They were a little chewy, like clams or mussels.  They didn’t taste bad, but for some reason I just had this insurmountable mental block that I was eating snails and that’s just gross.  Being the adventurous eater that I claim to be, I had to eat a few of them before totally giving up.  Normally I’m very good about getting past those sorts of things and just sucking it up, but this I could not do.  I mean, they’re snails for crying out loud!

Chengdu striked me as a much more verdant and tropical city.  Unfortunately I don’t have many pictures that show this, but just from the short time I had walking around I got that impression.  Xi’an is very dry so everything is kind of dusty and dirty and there is not a lot of vibrant foliage.  Even though Chengdu is not very far away, the region and climate is much different in that there is more humidity.  This results in less dust and more greenery.

Something I have been noticing more and more is how many people are surprised by mine and my compatriots’ presence.  Some people here really have never seen a white person, and they are genuinely surprised when they finally come across one.  Here in Xi’an people literally gawk or point as I walk down the street.  When we went to Leshan to visit the giant Buddha, the people nearly lost it.  As we stepped up onto a recessed viewing platform, there was an audible gasp as a large group of school children (probably around middle school age) saw us.  We were instantly swarmed as the Chinese people started snapping pictures of us.  Some of them actually wanted to have their picture taken with Christa and Laura.  It was totally bizarre.  You would think they would want to have their picture taken in front of the giant Buddha.  But no, it’s all about whitey I guess.  It took me completely out of my element, it just seemed so incredibly foreign to me.  It’s not like we point and stare at Asian people as they walk down the street in America.  I suppose that’s just one more cultural (or maybe social?) difference that makes up the huge divide between our two cultures.

Pandas.  Holy freakin’ crap.  Pandas.  If you ever get a chance to see Pandas up close and personal, I highly recommend it.  You will melt like butter, I guarantee it.  When Laura (who doesn’t speak a word of Chinese) goes off adventuring by herself and gets frustrated by the language barrier, she just thinks about the Pandas and she immediately turns into a giggling fool.  I think she would start drooling if she received any more stimulus when she’s like that.  It’s kind of hilarious.

And in case you are wondering, these are the two people I keep referring to:

Christa (left) and Laura (right)

Christa has been a teacher here in Xi’an for the past two years now and will be going home for good at the end of this semester.  She has been incredibly nice to me and the rest of the new teachers here with showing us around, explaining all the wacky things to us, showing us the good dinner spots, and generally just being a really great person.  We have dubbed her the Den Mother.  Laura is Christa’s friend from home who is here for a month.  She leaves next week and I for one will be sorry to see her go.  She is a lot of fun to hang out with and she has been a great help for me during my free time and when the stress of trying to figure out how to teach was getting me down.

Related Posts:

1. Photo Essay: All the Little Details