Cowing Around: China: Cheng Du and about 四川-成都

Cheng Du is the most unlike-China city you can imagine, in the sense that people here are really laid back. No rushing traffic during rush hours, although it still is rather chaotic. Cheng Du is the capitol of Si Chuan province, famous for its ultra spicy cuisine. People of Si Chuan are also known gamblers. Machong is the regular pass time and the police don’t care about games in the public. Every house hold has a table out and if you are an addict, don’t come to Cheng Du!

Every household has a table of gamblers.

Looks like Cheng Du folks are really active at night.

It’s really hard to organize my thoughts about Cheng Du since there are so many different aspects that I want to mention. Ok, lets start with religion and temples.

Unlike Taiwan, temples in Mainland China are usually very ancient. Of course, it’s because this is where the main bulk of Chinese history took place, therefore the artifects. The remains of religion is especially precious in Mainland China because of the Cultural Revolution, during which the Communist party campaigned to get rid of the “old”, meaning old thoughts that differs from communism. The campaign included destroying all temples and religious presence. Ancient temples that survived mostly are left with half of its original assets. It’s such a shame because other culture can claim 5000 years of civilization.

Since the cultural revolution, religion is one of the sensitive topics in communist China. Even though the presence of religion is slowly coming back, it is still a heavily guarded territory. It’s impossible to separate the Chinese culture from religion, but that’s what the communist is trying to deny.

Ceiling religious painting being painted over during the cultural revolution.

The streets of Cheng Du is also interesting. Sitting on the tour bus looking out is an amusing experience itself. First thing I noticed is, of course the massive bicycle scene is gone, people roaming on the streets on scooters. This is no surprise since Taiwan has more scooters. What’s surprising is, everyone rides really slowly. It’s kinda hard for me to adjust to this sight because with the same scooter styling, riders in Taiwan zip through the traffic like roaches fleeing from the light. Here, they crawl like snails. Then I realized that China is much more advanced than even the western world on one thing. Electric scooters. All of the scooters are electric, and probably speed restricted one. Like Taiwan, people use their scooters in unimaginable ways. A family of five on a little poor two-wheeled fella is the common sight. Transporting cargo on the poor scooter is also a common practice, but converting a scooter into a cargo hauling pick-up makes me feel really bad for the poor scooter. I mean, talk about milking the last electron!

A scooter full of live chicken.

Local innovation to beat the rain.

China is also a strange place in terms of… well, everything! Here’s how I will summarize. On the streets, you can see all kinds of cars. From fugly three-wheel cars to exotics. It’s a world of availability. As long as you have money, you can get anything you want. So it has compact cars that you cannot find in the US, as well as rare exotics that you don’t see in Taiwan. Chinese brands are also doing much better than before with decent looking cars on the road. Lifestyle wise, there’s the spit-everywhere anywhere culture, as well as ultra high-end designer fashion. When you mix all of them in one big pot, you get Si Chuan cuisine. Intriguing but hardly appetizing.

However, it’s a process that China has to go through. I think it’s impossible to be in a position where one needs to catch up rapidly yet retain the positive value of traditions. It’s hard to judge what’s worth preserving and what needs to be left behind until you’ve walked it through. For China, what it has that the western world doesn’t, is resources and capacity. It’s amazing how well the hardware aspect of the city is developing. However, it seems that there is a building pressure between the daily expense vs local’s wages.

Talking about development, the Wen Zhou Earthquake that shocked western China took place just three years ago. Honestly, in most parts of the affected area, you will hardly notice the damages, because the communist accomplished one thing that the democratic west can’t, that’s leadership. At times of disaster and critical moments, it’s no time to consider “rights”, but do what’s needed. China mobilized troops from all over the country, many of which died on the way due to exhaustion because the only way to reach the affected areas is by foot. The government implemented plans and rebuilt much of the ruins with considerations of lesson learnt from the past. In fact, much of the Jiu Zhai Gou’s modern hotels are the result of this re-organization. Till today, the earthquake is still very much a part of Cheng Du people’s life in the sense of how much they’ve learnt from the recovery. The scars will always be there, but with that, new courage will take them much further.

A table of ultra spicy left overs.

I bet even the stray have spicy tongue.

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Traditional costumes rental for tourists to take photos of themselves.... argh....

A very special and lost kind of folk art. Heated molten syrup being dripped onto cooled surface and hardens into graphic according to the artist's craft, made into candies. Each piece is unique and intricate. It's hard for me to stomach such delicate piece of art.

Why bother with $300 strollers?

Bamboo baby carrier.

Chef pulling a kind of sugar treat called "Dragon whisker candy".

Old lady making more flower head wears.

World's largest Buddha statue, took three generations of folks thousands of years ago to finish it.

"Du Jiang Yan", a world heritage site. It is famous for its ingenious way to divert the strong Ming River's water into smoother current, which allowed the locals to use the river as a trade route and provided Cheng Du stable water supply, all before hard tools were even available!