Remembering: China • Chengdu • HuangTianBa Part 2 Chengdu

Chengdu (成都)

The moment we touched Chengdu land, relatives came to our aid; they drove us to my grandparents’ home, helped us find our luggage and carried the heavy duffel bags and backpacks. Relatives or friends would come every day and visit us, some I remembered and some I didn’t recognize. There were so many relatives that it was impossible to keep track. I’ve always known that we had many relatives and family friends, but it ever crossed my mind that it would be on this scale.

Every day or two, someone would invite my family over and treat us to dinner where we taste almost everything on the menu. Our table always winds up with a mountain of decorative plates with barely touched food. One day, my dad’s friend treated us to dinner at a fancy restaurant with multiple glittering chandeliers and a private room the size of my living room. The wall was decorated with heart carvings and our door was wooden with rows of protrusions, representing an ancient looking door. It was furnished with a couch, a coffee table and an aquarium with multiple golden fish. There are more than 4 waiters who attended our every whim, filled our glasses and introduced the platters. Among the dishes was a three-foot long platter piled with fried balls, with a carrot dragon head, almost as tall as the length of the plate, sitting upright on the end of the plate. The head and neck were carved with scales and the eyes give you a feeling that it was alive and smiled with a wise expression. The long mustache hung down, waving in the imaginary wind. The neck was crowned with freshly picked flowers, their fragrance still lingering. None of us eat a lot as we are engrossed in our conversations. So much food is wasted; in fact, most of the food is thrown away. I resent their life style or nature of wasting food, and instead, may invite others for tea while they can chat like what they normally do in restaurants.

The thing that pushes my buttons the most is smoking and it annoys me that people there have a habit of smoking. Any room you walk in, there would be a cigarette odor because there is no specific room or place to smoke. Everyone smokes in restaurants and foggy smog condenses on the ceiling and the stench is eye watering. On the sidewalks, thousands of cigarette butts are flung onto the ground, neglected by the smokers. My uncle smokes a few packs a day and the foul smell surrounds his body for many hours and I try to stay away from him the entire time. Also, more and more people are starting to smoke. My dad, who never smokes in Canada, was wheedled into smoking temporarily.

In Chengdu, there is a street called Jin Li Street (锦里古街). In the Qin Dynasty (秦朝 221 BC - 206 BC), this street was already famous for its cloth and it was one of the busiest streets in the Shu Han Kingdom (蜀汉, 221-263). Sometimes, Jin Li Street is referred as the “First Street of the Shu Kingdom”. In 2008, the street was restored and opened to the public. The street is 350 meters long. The street sells food and other souvenirs like embroidery, calligraphy and paintings. They also sell traditional, ornamental cloths and you can enjoy music and shadow puppetry. My favorite part was the food. There was a huge assortment of food and I wanted to try all of it. I ate something called Donkey Ears, 3 Big Pows and my favorite dish called Liangfen (凉粉) which I had no English translation. It is made out of green been that was grinded into powder, ran through with water and after the mixture dries, it is cut into slippery strips resembling noodles, then added sauces and spices. This dish was already created in the ancient time and was like a Popsicle at that time because of its naturally cold taste. It kept sliding in my mouth, spreading the sharp taste of spices across my tongue and glided down my throat. I kept eating and eating while my stomach was quickly filling up, feeling as if it was going to burst. I looked around and saw much more tempting food, sweet squares decorated with gemlike fruits and pineapple sticky rice. Smells were wafting at me from every corner. I was so disappointed that my stomach was too full to fit another bite.

Aside from the few setbacks, Chengdu has gone a long way from the drab, rundown buildings that I am occasionally told of. Now the buildings are well furnished with brightly lit hallways and the lobbies and are more spacious with glittering chandeliers and waxed tiles. The neighborhoods are nicely decorated with plant life like colorful flowers, healthy grass, many trees and sometimes even bamboo. My aunt and uncle’s apartment has many ponds with fish of any color of the rainbow and small cute turtles that we used to feed. My cousin’s apartment is decorated with bamboo while the buildings in the neighborhood give off an ancient feel.

10 years ago, only few people had cars, but now, seems every family has cars there. Automobiles pop out at every corner and speed away, taking almost impossible turn and every once in a while, a honk would be heard. The streets are constantly jammed and many roads and shortcuts criss cross each other, leaving cars precariously close. The cars squeeze in and out of the tight spaces. The wide roads are filled with little vendors who sell books, freshly roasted chestnuts, fruits and other trinkets. The streets are constantly filled with bustling people, rushing to get to their destinations.

Remembering: China • Chengdu • HuangTianBa     Part 1 China
Remembering: China • Chengdu • HuangTianBa     Part 2 Chengdu
Remembering: China • Chengdu • HuangTianBa     Part 3 HuangTianBa