Today is the first day of Qing Ming. Pronounced ‘chee..ng me.ng’. This holiday will last for 3 days. It is the ‘tomb sweeping’ holiday. It is a celebration and the paying of respect to the ancestors. Offices are closed for Monday and Tuesday.
We however, will be going to church, then meeting our new friends, Lauren and Dustin for dinner at the Element Fresh. Yummmmm!!!
This time we give ourselves plenty of time to find a taxi and get there on time. We are ready and out the door a good 45 mins to spare for a 10 minute ride. Out the gate we go and there is a taxi… right there with our name on it! In we go and we are off. We are at the church 30 minutes early and get a chance to socialize a bit. We chatted with several folks, a man from Tennessee and a lady from Australia. All have very interesting stories.
The speaker was really good and we enjoyed the service very much. This time we are sitting fairly close to the front and it was much better. We are considering a small group that meets on Friday evenings. Its theme is based on a ‘Purpose Driven Life’. It sounds really interesting to me. We will miss the first meeting as we will be in Chengdu, but we will catch up when we return.
A short walk after the service puts us at the Element Fresh and we peruse the menu while we wait for Lauren and Dustin. It was only a short wait until they arrived and we chatted for the next couple of hours. They are really a cute couple and will be getting married this summer. Lauren will be leaving soon for the states and will be there until their wedding. Once they marry and return to China, they are moving to Sichuan province to continue to learn the language and be missionaries.
After dinner, it is time to head to the Carrefour for a few provisions and then home. I had found a nice little bakery the last time I was there… not for the bread so much but other pastries. It is Q-Bake, a German based company. It has the most wonderful pastries. Our first stop would be Q-Bake and get a couple of nice pastries for a little something different. Michael had to try the cheesecake, so we took a load off and had dessert there. Yummmmm!!!
With our few groceries, we hop a taxi and off we go to home… it has been a good day!
Monday, April 4, 2011
It is time for the next set of shots for Hep A and B. I am not sure if the doctor’s office is closed due to Qing Ming, but I gave it a shot and yea… they are open and can take us at 1:30. I was afraid they too would be closed for two days, but since they cater to the foreigners, we got lucky… I think.
A taxi was right outside the gate and we were there by 1pm. Since we only see the nurse for this visit, we are in and out pretty quickly. Back in the cab and home before we know it. As we passed the main gate of Century Park, oh my, it was wall to wall people and cars and buses. This was definitely the place to be on Tomb Sweeping Day!!! It was mayhem and I was glad, for one, NOT to be there.
We should have been thinking ahead, but we are home now and hungry. I have chicken thawing for Kung Pao Chicken for dinner so the choices are pretty slim for lunch. We decided to head back to the Ajisen Noodles for another round. So we hopped the metro and had noodles for lunch. Once again, we loved it!
The folks that we met on Saturday had also mentioned a Dairy Queen by the B&Q and Michael was ready for a Blizzard fix. We wandered around looking for it and finally saw it across the street, literally right by the B&Q. So down in the subways and around through the underground corridors to the exit that would put us out on the other side of the street in front of the Metro Store.
Finding a potty, or rather finding one that you might actually want to use, is a challenge. But I decided the B&Q would probably have a decent bathroom, so in we went. Not wanting to look like we came in just to use the bathroom, we wandered around to see what might be available here. You never know what might come up that you need something in particular. So we perused!
Out the door with only a rug and a big Command hook, we needed that ice cream now. I go for the plain ole’ ice cream cone and Michael ordered the Georgia MudFudge… but somehow in the translation, he ended up with a Strawberry Banana Blizzard. Oh well… he takes the Blizzard, smiles and we are out of there. This place is quite popular and it was packed… I mean shoulder to shoulder packed. I should explain, Dairy Queen’s are not exactly like ours in the states. They do not serve eats, only treats and they are usually about a 14 foot wide space. Sometimes it is only a walk up window. Either way, they seem to have a booming business in China.
I guess Warren Buffett knew what he was doing when he added Dairy Queen to his base of owned businesses. Just a little trivia: With one share of his stock, Warren Buffett could buy about 50,000 Dilly Bars. Instead, the renowned billionaire investor shelled out $585 million for the entire Dairy Queen chain, known for its frozen-dessert treats and its ubiquitous presence in small-town America.
Before I forget… you will get a chuckle out of this one. I think I have mentioned a couple of times how the people here do everything on bikes and scooters. And I mean almost everything. They just strap it on the back of the scooter and away they go. Well today really takes the cake! As we were finishing our DQ treats before heading into the bowels of the subway, we were standing just at the top of the stairs. We turned towards the Metro Store and there, much to my surprise, was a guy loading 3 halves of a whole pig… what I mean is … each had half the head and 2 legs with the feet still intact. AND to make it a bit more interesting, it was unwrapped… I mean it was just the unwrapped carcass… no brown paper or plastic wrap… I mean nothing to protect it from the scooter or road grime or anything else that blows in the wind going down the road at 50 Kilometers. Eww!!!!
Well that was the highlight of our little lunch outing… another fun day down!!
Michael has to be in Chengdu for a couple days of business and we will stay over for the weekend and be tourists. There are several things of importance about Chengdu. One of the big things about Chengdu is the Panda’s, (the following descriptions have been lifted from the internet).
Located just 10km (6miles) away from downtown Chengdu, the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center has been created and imitated the pandas' natural habitat in order that they might have the best possible environment for rearing and breeding. This is definitely on our list for Saturday.
In China, Chengdu is always praised as the Tian Fu Zhi Guo, which means 'Nature's Storehouse'. Over 2,200 years ago, the city was threatened by the frequent floods caused by flooding of the Minjiang River (a tributary of the Yangtze River). Li Bing, a local official of Sichuan Province at that time, together with his son, decided to construct an irrigation system on the Minjiang River to prevent flooding. After a lengthy study and a lot of hard work by the local people, the great Dujiangyan Irrigation Project was completed. Since then, the Chengdu Plain has been free of flooding and the people have been living peacefully and affluently. Now, the project is honored as the 'Treasure of Sichuan', which still plays a crucial role in draining off floodwater, irrigating farms and providing water resources for more than 50 cities in the province.
In addition to these important features of the area, there are wonderful monasteries and Temples.
Active Buddhist monastery Wenshu Yuan, founded during the Tang Dynasty, draws a stream of locals coming to worship and burn incense. Aside from gilded statues and a famous scripture written in human blood, there's a relaxing teahouse and vegetarian restaurant.
The hugely important Daoist monastery, Qingyang Gong, in west Chengdu is where the Daoist god Laozi is said to have gained immortality. The working monastery features spectacular pavilions, 81 carved dragons, and printing plates of rare and important Daoist scriptures.
And of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the food. It is some of the best in China, or so I am told. It is hot and spicy Sichuan food. I am actually looking forward to partaking some of these dishes. I will take plenty of Gelusil with me as I fully expect to have major heartburn. I will also be taking the translation cheat sheet with me for food. You know the one…no internal organs… no kidney..no liver..no heart..no brains.. no intestines.. no reproductive organs… no eyes, tongue or any head parts either, sheep or goat or fish or fish parts… no rabbit or toad or frog or turtle or any other animal that it was never intended us to consume. Lauren told us she found herself in a situation where she had to eat a cow eye… I just cannot handle that… sorry!
Anyway… that is just a hint of what we will be doing in Chengdu. I promise pictures. I will have 2 memory cards, 16 gig and 32 gig, plus 2 batteries and the charger to make sure I capture the memories. This will, most likely, not be our last visit to Chengdu, but you never know so I will drink in as much of this place as possible. It is considered the gateway to Tibet… a place I really want to go, but time will not permit this time around.
We will be going to Malaysia's colorful capital city of Kuala Lumpur later this month. I will have more on that and what to expect there later.
Until then… have a blessed day and remember to always be a witness for the Lord!
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