The last 2 days (Sunday and Monday) I spend my whole free time - as you know, I work Mondays so I used my time off when the kids were at school - to go and explore the city. Showing off being extremely hot and humid over my first few days here, Chengdu gave me its bad ass look for my free days, with constant rain and nasty wind. But that bit of weather challenge can't stop a real explorer like me. Thinking of : There is no such thing as bad weather, there is only bad clothes - I put on my rainboots, got that nice cappy (thank you again dearest brother for letting me take it to China - it does its job fabulously!) places on my head and was ready to see the city. Arriving with the subway at Tianfu Square, which is the biggest traffic point in Chengdu, being the center of the city and the meeting point of the 2 existing subway lines, gave me a first impression of the city. Big, wide, clean, police officers everywhere and of course tons of people all over the place. And you can't even imagine how many eateries a city can have. And it's not like half of them is empty. Noho, like I said, people everywhere, on the streets, driving cars, in buses, in restaurants, stores. It was packed. Maybe because it was Sunday? But my experience on Monday wasn't much different, so I think that was just the standard. Someone could really feel anonymous in this city, if he wasn't European like me, who seems to have a sign right up on his front reading: Please Stare At Me With Your Mouth Wide Open. Put hey, put on your poker face and smile. And there really Are advantages when looking like a foreigner in China. Security doesn't bug you for suspicious items in your backpack (because they can't really talk to you), Chinese guys hold their umbrella over you when waiting to cross the streets - and they don't mind standing in the pouring rain themselves for a couple of minutes (all with that tiny bit of home you might say after 3 minutes of smalltalk, Yes I want to be your girlfriend) and you get complimented all the time for your beauty. I really recommend going to China to those who need a boost of self confidence! You will for sure find that here.
So Sunday I made my way to a nice little district not far from the central Tianfu Sqare called Kuanxiangzi. It's streches over 3 streets and 2 blocks where the old Chinese buildings got preserved really well and give you the atmosphere of ancient China. It's great. As soon as you enter you have this immediate respect for the history expressed by the buildings and walls.
I expected a lot of tourists to be there, but to my surprise I was almost the only foreigner between all the Chinese people that came to visit. Very nice to see that there are still some areas that are not packed with tourists and all sorts of souvenir vendors. I was able to enjoy the atmosphere there to its fullest. I felt the same when I visited the Wenshu Monastery yesterday. Together with another Cultural Ambassador living in Chengdu, I went to see the big temple area. It was the first time I met with the girl, and together we had a great time. It was great to talk to somebody who understands every English word I said and who I fully understood :-) hard to find here. From the second we entered the temple area, we were surrounded by the hypnotizing smell of the incense sticks that people lit. There were many shrines distributed all over the temple area, each containing at least one Buddha statue. Most of them golden. It was fenomenal. Lots of people being there were in total trance while kneeling down on prepared pillows praying and praising their idol. It was fascinating to see. Picture taking was pretty destricted, but I also didn't really feel like taking any. You really have too much respect for the whole culture as you would run around the whole place photografing every corner of it. The whole area was pretty large, so by the time we finished making our way through the many little walkways and gardens, we were ready for some food. First, we treated ourselves to a popular drink, called COCO milktea, and as it was raining the whole time, this warm sip was just what we needed. Karolina then showed me a fabulous bakery, and you could tell it was authentic by us being the only foreigners standing in line and the signs all being written only in Chinese. It tool us quite a while until we decided on the treats we wanted to get, trust me, it is hard to choose when you have not the slightest idea how something might taste like, but I went after - No risk, no fun - and got myself 3 different baked goodies, one, a beanfilled sweet cake, one lotus filled cake and one filled with red bean paste. Each one rich and flavorful. Delish! Chinese bakery, you better watch out! I will be back!
Unfortunately, as transportation takes pretty long from my place, it was already time to head back to the subway to get on my way home to not be late for work. But I had a great time in Chengdu with Karolina, and we decided to head out together again soon.
For my work, it was a real fun day yesterday. The kids were both great, we drew huge and colorful houses on even bigger pieces of paper and sang songs with each other while drawing. It's great to see how the connection between me and the kids is getting better each day and how I somehow managed it to shoe me respect (which is not to take for granted here if you see how they behave for others). So the first day of a new week of work ended with one happy Ronja all fresh and clean from a nice shower, watching how the biggest purchaseable cookie is made on FoodNetwork Asia. Yup, I'm doing good.