After getting acquainted with our local community surroundings in the southern Tongzilin area, we managed to take the local buses to commute to our work assignments. After our first full day at our assignments, we decided to venture on the metro to the center of the city, Tianfu Square.
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province and the home to more than 10 million people, is the home of the Giant Panda, the capital of spicy Sichuan cuisine and has an incredible history and culture dating back 3000 years. After getting acquainted with our local community surroundings in the southern Tongzilin area, we managed to take the local buses to commute to our work assignments. After our first full day at our assignments, we decided to venture on the metro to the center of the city, Tianfu Square. Tianfu Square was once the location of the Imperial Palace that was torn down during the Cultural Revolution and replaced with beautiful fountains and is overlooked by a very large statue of Chairman Mao. The square is the hub of the subway system and is surrounded by some of the most exclusive shopping in the city. There was a significant influence from the West in both the shopping and eating establishments and it felt similar to a vibrant night in NYC’s Times Square. On the weekend we attended one of the oldest and most interesting opera forms in China, the Sichuan Opera, which is a blend of local history performed through forms of dancing, singing, stick and string puppetteering and changing faces. The performance of changing faces is an impressive skill and almost magical as the performers switch masks with almost instantaneous speed in order to portray different personalities. Changing Faces is one of the distinct features of the Sichuan Opera. The costumes and talent were quite impressive and it was an interesting and enjoyable cultural experience. Disappointed to find it raining when we woke on Sunday morning, we decided nonetheless to adventure out to visit the Pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. The research center located about 6 miles northeast of Chengdu’s city center and is dedicated to learning more, assisting with reproduction, and preserving the pandas in the wild. Eighty five percent of the world’s wild panda population resides in the Sichuan area. Giant Pandas are the rarest member of the bear family and are considered a national treasure by the Chinese and adored by the world. It has become a worldwide concern to preserve their existence and do what is necessary to slow and hopefully stop the panda population from becoming extinct due to habitat loss and poaching. The Chengdu Panda Base was founded in 1987 and it started with 6 giant pandas that were rescued from the wild. The reproduction support from the research center has resulted in over 125 births and its panda population has grown to over 70. The panda babies are so significantly small (basically the size of a cannoli) that often times a first time mother will not even know she is pregnant, nor will she know she has given birth and the panda baby will die within the first day or two. With the help of the research center, they assist with the birth, by caring for the baby and reintroducing the baby to the mother slowly. Also residing at the center are Red Pandas. They are much smaller than the giant panda, have small features like a cat or a raccoon and have a very thick long bushy tail. These pandas like to eat bamboo, clean themselves, breed (about every 12 to 18 months) and sleep, all of which they do while above the ground in the trees. The lifestyle of the red panda is to play and create mischief. The overall goal of the research center is to learn what they can about the panda habits, create programs to protect them and their habitat, assist with their reproduction and eventually reintroduce more pandas back into the wild. In the afternoon, we visited one of Chengdu’s preserved areas filled with rich architectural and social characteristics from the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) called Kuanzhai Xiangzi, which literally means wide and narrow lanes. These traditional homes in the alleys or lanes are now converted to shops, teahouses, small courtyards and restaurants. This section of the city is meant to be enjoyed in the lifestyle of Chengdu; leisurely, slow and relaxed but since it is such a popular place among Chinese tourists, a weekend day in the summer, albeit rainy, was quite crowded and busy. Our last stop before we ended our Sunday was to enjoy a tea at a teahouse in People’s Park. An area where we were expecting to have a nice relaxing tea to end to our busy day, but it turned out to be an eclectic combination of loud music, lots of people, busy vendors and a very large teahouse. As we walked through the park we found people playing mah jong and chinese chess (xianqi), vendors selling their wares, and we were overwhelmed by the variety of musicians playing and singing at the same time, one just as loud or louder than the other. All this on our way to where we spent most of our time having our desired tea sitting in the comfortable bamboo chairs at the large open air tea house on the west end next to the lake. Just as we were beginning to relax, we were offered and decisively replied “Bu yao, xie xie” (no, thank you) as we realized many come here to get the wax removed from their ears while enjoying their tea - oh my, this was quite a cultural moment…
3 Comments
Ken
7/11/2014 12:35:38 pm
It looks like a fabulous first week in Chengdu! The photos are gorgeous, especially of the Panda's… I can't believe how tiny the baby panda is… hokey crow!
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Pam
7/12/2014 01:45:21 am
What a wonderful cultural experience. I watched the vides and did not find anything relaxing about it. I am sure you will continue to find interesting cultural traditions like at the tea house with the ear wax removal opportunity (funny). Enjoy your travels and keep the updates coming. Enjoying living vicariously through you both.
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Ken
7/13/2014 09:11:08 am
Ok, waiting on the week two update and photo's! :-)
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