We were given maps the first day we were in Chengdu, and one of the places on the map that caught my attention was called DuFu’s Thatched Cottage so I got a group together to go there one afternoon. In my limited experience, cultural attractions in China are rarely a single building; they’re usually a series of little buildings with botanical garden like grounds to stroll through. Dufu’s Thatched Cottage was no exception. DuFu is a famous Chinese poet who lived in the 700s (I was thinking he lived in the 1500s, maybe 1300s…the fact that he lived in the 700s shows that China is a really old country!) and he lived in Chendgu for five years. The main building of the grounds has as walkway that overlooks the excavation site of where his cottage was, and there is also a recreation of his cottage complete with time-period furnishings. It was a semi-nice afternoon (we left right before the rain started), was not crowded, and was a pleasant retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city. There was a field trip there while we were there, so throughout the day we had middle-school aged kids coming up to us and saying “Hello” or “How are you”, anything they knew in English. At one point there was about 100 of them all crowded around us, laughing, screaming and taking pictures. Now I know what it feels like to be a celebrity. Another day we went to the Qingyang Temple, which is said to be one of the most important Taoist temples in southwestern China. The difference between western and eastern places of worship is astounding. Whereas cathedrals are dark and cold and enormous, all the Buddhist and Taoist temples I have been to consist of multiple buildings surrounded gardens and trees. They are open and airy and it seems that nature is an important part of the experience. From the limited knowledge I have of Buddhism and Taoism, this set-up definitely reflects the ideas of harmony and personal-growth versus the structure and bureaucracy of Christianity. One thing they have in common are the statues—in Christian churches you have Jesus hanging on a cross and statues of saints, whereas there are multiple Buddah statues in the temples. The Central Park of Chengdu is called “People’s Park”, and before midterms Molly, Cas and I went there to study. The parks that I’ve been to in China aren’t like parks in the States. Instead of wide-open spaces and grassy fields, Chinese parks are structured and have set paths on which to walk—they’re more like what we would consider a botanical garden. People’s Park has different sections, one of which is a mini-amusement park with the most unsafe-looking rides I’ve ever seen, and it has multiple teahouses. We found an open table outside a tea house and sat down to study. We were first distracted by the men who come around with what look like metal chop sticks. They cling them together looking for people who need their ears cleaned out! People who accept just sit there while this man sticks lots of different tools in their ears. It’s disturbing. The second time we were disturbed was when I tried to re-fill my teacup on my own. Tea in China doesn’t come in bags—it’s whole leaves, flowers, herbs, etc. in a cup and you just pour hot water on top. Each table gets a huge thermos full of hot water. When I tried to refill my cup, the water wouldn’t come out of the thermos so I tilted it and tilted it until the cork popped and out scalding hot water spilled all over me and our table.
Pictures: In the Plum Blossom Garden at Dufu's Thatched Cottage; The main entrance to DuFu's Thatched Cottage (that's a statue of the man himself); Cas getting his ears cleaned out in People's Park; studying and tea in the park: Qingyang Temple
Video: What it's like to be white in China.
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