Chengdu Week 27 - Wenshu Temple

Feb. 22-23, 2015
   
    Sunday was a day of relaxation, so nothing to report on that. Other than watching some interesting movies. The pollution has been lessened recently so the blue skies are really nice. Monday started off cold and wet. It’s been raining early in morning but it ended up going until early afternoon. Once the wether cleared up Jesse and I ventured out to Wenshu Monastery(文殊院). It’s in the middle of the city, and surrounded by an ancient street. Jesse and I totally forgot that we are still in the Spring festival and that the temples are a major traveling point. There were tons of people everywhere. Which made for a different sort of pictures as there was so much activity. It was actually pretty neat. Jinli is a little bit more orderly, but this surrounding street had a bunch of street vendors and street food. Pushing through people is always a fun game. The Monastery was quite beautiful. It’s a place of devotion for the monks though right now I think they are extremely busy. We saw a few of them but they always seemed to be going somewhere. There were also quite a few people trying to speak English to Jesse and I, more than normal. We spent a few hours at the Monastery wandering around, we made a final loop of the street and headed back. Normally when Jesse and I travel out we try to go to quiet places, but this was a nice change of pace. The rest of the evening was spent wandering in an out of the apartment since it was such a nice day. Two more days until break is finished.

Week 26 - Tianfu, Beans and Jiaozi

Feb. 19, 2015

    Another lay-in to kick off the morning. I didn’t really have a plan other than enjoy the day. Jess and I made made the snap decision to swing down to Tianfu Square. It’s in the middle of the city, and has a large statue of Mao. Honestly, we were just looking for something to do that wasn’t inside the apartment. It was a good hour walk there and back. Apparently we weren’t the only ones with the idea of visiting the Square. So we wandered around once there taking pictures of some of the more famous things in the area. Then it was back home, for a relaxing evening. I made the decision to try cooking up the beans my father sent me. It’s kind of a long process so it required some prep work. I really hope it turns out well. Beans were such a staple in my life back home, it’ll be nice to have some comfort food. Enjoy the pictures of Tianfu square!

Feb. 20, 2015

    Today was pretty much a stay inside day. Jesse and I went for a quick jaunt to the outside to grab some supplies and then the rest of the day was devoted to making beans. It was actually a really fun process but incredibly time consuming. The whole process from start to finish took about 5 hours. It was a long arduous process, but it was well worth it. We made up some rice and beans and it was truly magical. Both Jesse ad I agreed that Chinese food is amazing, but nothing beats beans. I still have black beans to cook up, I want to see if we can’t find some corn tortillas as black beans make for wonderful tacos.We’ll see how that works. the rest of the night was spent generally milling about.

Feb. 21, 2015

    So today ended up being quite a fun day considering I really didn’t want to do to much. So I contacted Raphi and we decided to make a day of making Jiaozi, something we had agreed to devoting a day of our break too. It’s not a particularly difficult process but it is again time consuming. Raphi, Jesse and I met up and went on a quick trip to Trust Mart for supplies. First step is to make the dough which is simply flour, starch, and water. Then Raphi imparted on us the way to marinade the meat. The meat was pork, which is traditional, and I blended up some chicken for my dining pleasure. I then put together the dipping sauce, which was essentially homemade teriyaki sauce with hot peppers mixed in Sichuan style. Then we spent about two hours rolling and cutting the dough. Then once we made the little rounds, Raphi and I added the meat. That process easily took an hour or so, and then it was time to finally cook them. The cooking process was fairly easy, all you need to do is boil water and throw in the completed Jiaozi. The name in Chinese is 水饺 or water dumplings, not to be confused with the Chinese word for sleep 睡觉 which is the same pronunciation (Shuijiao) but completely different tones. We got all of them cooked and it was time to eat. And if I do say so myself, it was extremely tasty. The clean-up was not so amazing but we managed to get through it, nothing is worse for the wear. Overall, the day turn out pretty epic.

Rolling dough

sauce!

Stuffing jiaozi

好吃！！

Chengdu Week 26 - The start of break and the Spring Festival

Feb. 15-16, 2015

    Sunday was a really relaxed day. I just enjoyed the nice weather and made curry. I really enjoy the quiet days. Monday began as it normally does, with coffee and class. Class went alright, though it’s kind of a bummer that we will run through an entire chapter before break. The chapter is on finances and stock market. The words weren’t particularly difficult, but to be perfectly honest it’s not something that really peaks my interest. Our history professor was smart and switched our Tuesday class for Monday. Though I must admit having our apartment so close makes life so easy, I came back for a quick lunch. History class is as usual a trial to get through, just a lack of new information (I have been Chinese history major for 3 years). Her information is very carefully selected and it doesn’t offer me any really new perspective except the one of how Chinese people view their own history. The weather today has been so lovely. It’s finally warming up into the sixties and there is sun. even on non-polluted day the sun is often hidden by the clouds. Every break offered by our history class all the year-longs just went outside and absorbed then sun. It was so nice to actually feel the sun on my skin. It was so fantastic that the entire apartment after history class went out to the little fountain area and sat together doing homework until the sun finally went down. Overall it was a lovely day.

Feb. 17, 2015

    Last day before break. Class was rough to get through. Talking about finances and such is literally the least exciting thing I can think about learning. Since I didn’t really care about the dialogue I was kind of a deep during class. I was not the only one, however, and together track four made it through. After that Jesse and I went home for a quick lunch and then off to Trust Mart, which was madness. Imagine the Saturday before the Superbowl, but in a country of 1.1 billion. Lots of people everywhere, Jesse and I all but ran through. Then there was a quick run to our vegetable lady. We had fun exchanging greetings she gave me one is Sichuanese that I then copied. It was a good time, she also made a point to inform she would be closed for the next couple days. Tomorrow is Spring festival eve, so everything is essentially shutting down, which was the cause for the rush to retrieve food.  By Sunday, according to Wentao, everything should be back up and running. The city is really quiet right now, many people have left to go back to their home towns in rural China. The noise level is at the equivalent of what I am used to back and Reno (I think so anyway, it’s a bit hard to remember). The next couple of days will be filled with celebrations. Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures of the city lit up with celebrations. 新年快乐！


Feb. 18, 2015

    First day of break was meant to be a busy day. But in the end we ended up generally staying inside. It wasn’t as sunny as it had been before. Instead we stayed in and had some apartment TV time. Though we are all friends, we don’t hang out as a whole simply due to different schedules. However, after dinner Jesse and decided to go check out the Temple and Jinli street. Today is Spring Festival eve. Now to explain, this is Chinese New Years but the name of the festival is the Spring festival. China was based off a lunar calendar so traditionally this was the start of the new year, though the celebration was also something of a celebration of the end of winter. The temple, as you may remember, was in the process of being decorated when Jesse and I visited two weeks ago. It was 30 RMB to get in and once inside it was well worth the money. Everything was decorated in lanterns and there was a carnival like atmosphere. We walked around and enjoyed the decorated area. Unfortunately the pictures I took were a little blurry because the lanterns were the only source of light. Overall a lovely was to spend the evening. When we came back we ended up watching the Spring Festival variety show on CCTV 1. This is the national show that a good portion of China watches every year. It was actually pretty fun. I was also pleased that for somethings I could keep up and for some things I was utterly confused. People would speak so fast a slur their words I’d have no idea. Overall it was an interesting night of Chinese nationalism. Every few songs was one that had very similar meanings to American nationalistic songs but obviously for China (yay for parallels).