http://www.gochengdoo.com/ http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2716/chengdu_skimpily_dressed_women_bust_sloppily_parked_cars meinv activists are baaaaack.

A trio of female Sichuan University Huaxi Campus students have appointed themselves parking patrolwomen.

Surely many of us in Chengdu can relate to the desire to police obnoxiously parked cars, but how many of us have the urge to do so dressed in skimpy Tomb Raider-inspired outfits?

Probably not many.



And that's what sets these students apart (in addition to the fact that they've bothered to take some action at all).

Clad in army-green crop tops and black hotpants with gun holsters strapped to their legs, they took to the streets yesterday to "shoot" cars parked in questionable places with pink paper "tickets" saying "Civilized Traffic Starts with Me."

Posters to a car-enthusiasts discussion forum were not impressed, decrying the women for "showing off" and saying that they should don more clothing and not carry fake firearms.



The action follows a modern-day trend of young women dressing in revealing outfits and taking to the streets to spread their message. Similar "protests" have included the Jialing Power Plant "bikini babes" of 2010 and the comparatively conservative "My Generation" traffic stoppers of 2009.

We're not sure why the outfits are necessary (or relevant), but at least we like their messages.



Photos by Chinanews]]> Wed, 23 May 2012 16:00:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2716/chengdu_skimpily_dressed_women_bust_sloppily_parked_cars http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2714/ghetto_superstar_mama_the_laowaima_hall_of_shame Mamahuhu: A joint column for mamas in Chengdu

A growing list of totally shameful behaviors I've occasionally engaged in here that I wouldn't be caught dead doing if I were "back home"—or if I didn't have a kid:

1. Taken my kid to play in the supervised kids' play area at Ikea and then run over to Decathlon because I heard they had those fleece pullovers on sale again. No, I haven't decided to use that precious hour of freedom to go on a spree at Sephora, Mango, and H&M at the Galleria ... but I've been tempted.
2. Let my kid pee on the sidewalk. And instructed innocent by-standing friends to take him outside to pee on a tree. Under 6 is still OK, right?
3. Let kindly fuwuyuan provide free baby-sitting.
4. Argued in front of other patients with a doctor: "No, I am not going to pump my baby full of antibiotics for a chest cough—I just wanted to make sure it wasn't pneumonia or TB or bird flu, thank you ... and I didn't ask your other patients to be in here anyway!"
5. Let the taxi driver think it was my baby who let out the fart, not me.
6. Picked up my kid and held him when he would have been all right standing just so I could get a seat on the bus.
7. Glared at seated, able-bodied people between the ages of 20 and 40 while my 50-pound lump of deadweight slumbered peacefully when I couldn't get a seat on the bus.
8. Gone into places with clean restrooms claiming that my child had to pee when it was actually me.
9. Smugly answered nosy strangers, "Actually, he can speak three languages" and "No, he doesn't have a Chinese name. Or an English one!"
10. Let my kid take candy from strangers.
11. Let my sweet pride and joy run amok in a store, restaurant, or other public place when the only other people around were those who'd just laugh it off.
12. Yelled angrily at any driver who gets within three feet of me or my kid.
13. Retorted to critical strangers, "你的小孩子穿的多!" (Western parents in China hear over and over and over again how insufficiently bundled up their child is. It gets to be annoying after the first 300 times or so.)
14. Gone into random stores where I had absolutely no interest in buying something just to get free balloons, tissues, or food samples.
15. Cattily informed critics that "this is how modern moms do it" when told that using a baby sling would deform my child's legs forever.
16. Asked complete strangers in my vicinity to stop smoking. Actually, I'd do that anyway.]]> Sat, 19 May 2012 21:45:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2714/ghetto_superstar_mama_the_laowaima_hall_of_shame http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2712/whats_on_chengdu_may_18_to_may_20 FRIDAY | MAY 18

Edge of the World @ Little Bar
Metal/ Rock with Moonless Acheron. Support: Hatemonger, RMB40.
Starts at 8 p.m.

One Year Anniversary Party @ Lazy Pug
Drink Specials. Gin/Vodka Tonics RMB15, Corona RMB18, Tequila/Stoli shots RMB12. Free entrance.
Starts at 9 p.m.

Trail Dust @ Machu Picchu
Desert pop. RMB30.
Starts at 9 p.m.

Disco Death @ Xiongmao
with Jovian & Big Snax + guest DJ. RMB20.
Starts at 9.30 p.m.

SATURDAY | MAY 19

Martin Eyerer @ Xiongmao
Berlin DJ (Kling Klong & Renaissance). RMB60 (Students RMB40). Support DJs Andy Mac, Dave Bassman & Marco
Starts at 9.30 p.m.

Third Summer of Love @ Lan Kwai Fong
Outdoor party with G.E.M. DJ Tommy & the "Lady Gaga Experience". Free entrance.
Starts at 8 p.m.

Western Brothers Team @ Little Bar
Rock with Ashtemato, Nanfangqiyu & No.2 Story. RMB40.
Starts at 8 p.m.

Sexy Saturday @ Shamrock
Free shorts for girls in skirts. Prize for shortest skirt.

Yard Sale @ QSI
Tables RMB50 (RSVP with Laura-li[AT]cdu.qsi.org). Free entrance.
10 a.m. till 3 p.m.


On fire @ Morning Bar (Sanshengxiang)
Punk party with Supermantiantian, New Queen, Vexatious, Narrenschiff, The Sad Sack, Rebel30, S-mud, The Hit. RMB50.
Starts at 4 p.m.

SUNDAY | MAY 20

Buz McGrath @ Little Bar
Solo show with Unearth guitarist. Free entrance.
Starts a 4 p.m.

Poucher and Big Guy @ Bookworm
Story time with Author and illustrator Arthur Charles & Kate Anderson. Age 5+. Free entrance.
Starts at 11 a.m.

ONGOING


About Pain @ Redstar 35/ Creative Yard (Hongxinglu #35)
Contemporary Chinese illustration art. Free entrance. May 5-20

Rockarchive UK @ Chengdu East Music Park
Photography exhibition of 50 years British Rock. Free entrance.
May 9 - 20


Unique @ Eastern Image Photo Gallery (Chengdu East Music Park)
Collection & Opening Exhibition. Free entrance. 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
April 21 - May 20

The Flying delusion @ A Thousand Plateaus Art Space
Xiong Yu experimental space. Free entrance.
April 15 - June 5

All you can eat Dim Sum Brunch @ Shang Palace
RMB68 (plus 15% service charge). Monday to Friday 11.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Weekends 9.30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Happy Hour @ Tony Roma's
Every day every time for (Cocktails, Mocktails & beer). Buy one get one free.
Till May 31

UPCOMING EVENTS

Addison Groove @ Xiongmao
808/ Uk garage (horsepower rec). RMB60 (students RMB40).
Starts at 9.30 p.m.
Friday, May 25

Isbells @ Little Bar
Folk/pop from Belgium. Support: Wu Zhuoling. RMB50.
Starts at 8 p.m. Friday, May 25

Owligator vs Ladycop @ Jah Bar
International Rock'n'Roll Thriller. RMB15.
Starts at 9 p.m. Friday, May 25

Kalkutta Kid @ Xiongmao
French funk/hiphop.
Starts at 9.30 p.m.Saturday, May 26

From the Red @ Little Bar
Nanjing Emcore. RMB40 (Students RMB30).
Starts a 8 p.m. Saturday, May 26

Music Box Charity Bring and Buy Fair @ Bookworm
Children's toys, clothes, decorative items and books for sale. All proceeds will proceeded to Schools to Huaxi Village.
9.30 till 11.30 a.m. Sunday, May 27]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 18:40:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2712/whats_on_chengdu_may_18_to_may_20 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2710/love_in_sichuan_videos
The film series is a joint project between the Sichuan Provincial Tourism Bureau and China National Travel magazine.

All the four films incorporate stories of romantic relationship in Sichuan and Chengdu, and have been officially released on video-sharing sites in succession and are viewable online only.

Disclaimer: Foreign actors might feature prominently in more than one of the films posted below, so if you're the type to be offended by that, consider yourself forewarned.

youku

The first, which was released in February, focuses on Sichuan cuisine, including hot pot, xiao chi, and the other usual suspects at Jinli and Kuangxiangzi.

youku

To promote Chengdu, the second film follows a human dressed as a panda who travels to Chengdu and asks locals, starting with a taxi driver who speaks in local dialect, where happiness can be found in Chengdu. The fake panda visits a number of well-known sites, including Kuanzhai Xiangzi, and visits the Sichuan opera.

youku

Another film shows Wenjiang's attractions, including Floraland and the future equestrian center, set to a cheesy back story involving knights.

youku

The most recent and with more than 8 milllion views on youku in four days most popular,"Wenchuan Reborn," was released in time for the fourth anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake, and features the region's traditional Qiang culture as well as the quake museum site.]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2710/love_in_sichuan_videos http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2709/dandovals_fast_food_trials_mcdonalds
Round 20
McDonald's
麦当劳

Test subject #1.
Chicken Wrap
五色嫩鸡菠菜卷

Promotional Item | RMB10

Components:
Mayonnaise, tomato, carrots, cabbage, chicken, lettuce, spinach tortilla



Flavor
●●●●○○○○○○
It's really mayo-ey, really, really mayo-ey. The chicken's dark mean, which I'm not a big fan of. The tortilla was pretty good, but then I bit into the mayo and the low-quality chicken.

Texture
●●●●○○○○○○
Greasy, oily chicken. The tortilla was nice. I'm a little bit biased, but I do like tortillas.

Apparent nutrition
●●●○○○○○○○
Not with that much mayo. (Dandoval then launches into a monologue on "zero calorie" burgers.)

Greasiness factor
●●●●●●●○○○
The chicken stays in its place. It's pretty greasy, but it doesn't feel greasy.

Would you eat it again?



No. Man, this is definitely not full. The picture on the menu makes it look like it's full of stuff. That shit would not even come close to filling me up. It leaves a funny aftertaste. It's edible, but not any good.

Test subject #2.
Double patty with bacon and cheese
培根芝士双层牛堡

Dan's Choice | RMB19

Components:
Thousand Island dressing, bun, lettuce, cheese slice, bacon, two beef patties



Flavor
●●●●●○○○○○
Tastes pretty much like a Big Mac. (Dandoval is clearly disappointed.) It's supposed to be a special burger! This tastes like a club sandwich.

Texture
●●●●●●○○○○
Bacon should be crispy. This isn't crispy. It's ham. The meat is chewy, but not too chewy. The bread is crumbling apart, and there's too much of this special sauce.

Apparent nutrition
●●●○○○○○○○
Low. There's too much sauce. This is the same shit they use in the Egg McMuffin.

Greasiness factor
●●●●○○○○○○
The meat's not greasy. The only thing that's bad is the Thousand Island. The bread's crumbling apart and the sauce squeezes through the cracks, making my fingers dirty.

Would you eat it again?



No. This is the Big Mac or cheeseburger patty, which is different from what the picture shows. It's nothing special. I'd rather have a Big Mac.

Test subject #3.
Tarot/pineapple pies
香芋派/菠萝派

Our choice | RMB8 (for two)

Components:
Crust, filling

Flavor
●●●●●●●○○○
It tastes like bread. Wait, I've only had one bite. This shit is sweet. Holy crap. (Filling drops out in huge blobs.) The color's weird, but the taste is not bad.

Texture
●●●●●●●●○○
Pretty nice! Crunch on the outside, soft on the inside—just how I like it.

Apparent nutrition
●●●○○○○○○○
There's no way any of this can be good for you. It's just fried stuff. Well ... maybe the pineapple and tarot add some nutrition?

Greasiness factor
●●●●●●○○○○
This is gooey. Really gooey. The pineapple is much more gooey than the tarot.

Would you eat it again?
Mmmhmm! Actually, this is the best thing I've had today!

McDonald's Final Verdict
Says Dandoval: "When I first came to Chengdu, I ate at McDonald's once or twice a week. It was comfort food, a familiar taste, that flavor that you don't get from Chinese food. But Chinese McDonald's is not actually the same as American McDonald's; the meat tastes different, and they add different spices. Also, the food is not consistent across locations. This Kehua branch is OK, but the one near Century City is really good. And McDonald's delivery really sucks. They never pick up the phone, and if they do, they mess up the order every time."

For the record, this column was all Dandoval's idea, and he eagerly volunteered to participate in its creation before he thought better of the idea. Contrary to appearances, no Dandovals were harmed in the making of this page.Photos and commentary by Dan Sandoval.

This article was first published in CHENGDOO citylife Magazine, issue 53 ("reflections")]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 16:40:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2709/dandovals_fast_food_trials_mcdonalds http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2705/the_rat_and_the_roach
"If a rat is in pain, it makes a noise that signals other rats to stay away from the danger. The frequency is so high that humans can't hear it. They make CDs for this—you play it at night, and the rats stay away. But you have to change the CD every so often, otherwise they stop working, and the rats come back.

"I thought, well, I can apply the same principle, but I can't get a CD. So I caught a real rat instead and put it in a cage. It sends out a signal to other rats to stay away if they want to avoid the same fate.

"But my staff were disgusted. 'You can't keep a rat in a restaurant,' they said. 'That's not clean!'

"They were right. So I thought about this problem and what to do about it. So I decided to clean the rat. I used my shampoo to lather it and then washed the shampoo off. Then I worried maybe the rat would get cold, so I used my hairdryer to dry it off—a real salon treatment!

"'Look—see? Now it's clean. You have to conquer your fears. It's only a mindset that makes you think it's dirty,' I told them as I showed them my pet.

"But although the rat was clean, my staff were still not satisfied. 'Why is it disgusting? There's nothing dirty about it now!' I said. 'It's cleaner than you, probably!' But still, they couldn't get past the scaly tail.

"I thought and thought. They were right, in a way. Now that it was clean, the rat was really cute with its small eyes and pointy face and soft, fat body. But then it had a long, scaly tail—it just didn't match. So I thought about what to do. Then I came up with another solution: l would cut the tail off.

"I took it out of its cage and snipped off the tail at its base with a pair of scissors. The rat scampered back into its cage, the bloody stump dripping behind it.

"The other rats have stayed away. But one night, my pet escaped. You know, actually, the cage I had been keeping it in was for my cat. The cat ran away so the cage had been empty until the rat came. The spaces between the bars were too big, so the rat crawled through one night.

"But I saw it and caught it again, and slapped its face and told it we had a deal. 'You stay here, and I take care of you,' I told it. Back into the cage it went."

We stared at him, the disbelief plain on our faces.

"You have to conquer your fears," he repeated. "I have always been afraid of cockroaches. One night, it was late; I was burning the midnight oil. A roach scampered across the counter next to my computer. 'That's it!' I said to the roach. I snatched it off the counter, held it up to my face, and spoke to it directly. 'I told you not to bother me while I'm working! That's our deal. We need to come to an understanding.' I was so fed up. You can keep your place completely clean, the cleanest place in the world—but any bar in any city around the world, I don't care if it's five stars or what—they have cockroaches.

"So you ate it!?" I interjected, bracing myself for the worst.

"No, I didn't eat it. But I was fed up, and I grabbed the cockroach's head and tore it off. The innards followed, white stuff coming out where I had torn the head off.

"The good thing is, ever since then, I can just smash them easily. I'm not afraid anymore."

This article was first published in CHENGDOO citylife Magazine, issue 50 ("stories")]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 09:55:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2705/the_rat_and_the_roach http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2704/whats_on_chengdu_may_11_to_may_13 FRIDAY | MAY 11

Zoo @ Xiongmao
with Narxy B a.k.a Nero. NuDisco from Japan. Support: Dragon, Songfei & VCD. RMB30.
Starts at 9.30 p.m.

Bob Marley in my Heart Part1 @ Hemp House
with Gramaphonetics, Natural Growth, Geezer, Kovak Yan & Solar Pavilon. RMB60. Starts at 7 p.m.

Ashura @ Little Bar
Local pop/rock. Support: Huanrong aka Buffer Solution. RMB60.
Starts at 8 p.m.

Shihuaiganen @ New Music House
Chinese folk. RMB40 (Students RMB30).
Starts at 8.30 p.m.

Trance Universe @ Lan Town
with DJ Symm (Australia). Free entrance.
Starts at 9 p.m.

SATURDAY | MAY 12

Bob Marley in my Heart Part2 @ Hemp House
Proximity Butterfly, Mr. Turtle, DJ Dragon & Fiete. RMB60.
Starts at 7 p.m.

Wang Lei & Yue Haokun @ Little Bar
Chinese folk. RMB50 (Students RMB40).
Starts at 8 p.m.

YoMoFo @ Xiongmao
with Andy Mac, D.Bassman & Special guest. RMB30.
Starts at 9.30 p.m.

Québec Redneck Bluegrass Project @ Morning Bar (Sanshengxiang)
Free entrance.
Starts at 7.30 p.m.

Slow Motion @ White Rabbit Villa
Yang Bing & guest DJ. RMB50.
Starts at 6 p.m.

SUNDAY | MAY 13


Québec Redneck Bluegrass Project @ Jah Bar
RMB30.

ONGOING

International Art Residence Exhibition No.1 @ Blue Roof
with works of Antonio Wehrli (Switzerland), Carola Schmidt (Germany), Luke Newton (UK), Mikostic (France) & Wang TianTian. Free entance. April 21 till May 15

Sun Xun @ A4 Gallery
Solo exhibition. March 17 - May 17


About Pain @ Redstar 35/ Creative Yard (Hongxinglu #35)
Contemporary Chinese illustration art. Free entrance. May 5-20

Rockarchive UK @ Chengdu East Music Park
Photography exhibition of 50 years British Rock. Free entrance. May 9 - 20


Unique @ Eastern Image Photo Gallery (Chengdu East Music Park)
Collection & Opening Exhibition. Free entrance. 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. April 21 - May 20

The Flying delusion @ A Thousand Plateaus Art Space
Xiong Yu experimental space. Free entrance. April 15 - June 5

All you can eat Dim Sum Brunch @ Shang Palace
RMB68 (plus 15% service charge). Monday to Friday 11.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Weekends 9.30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Happy Hour @ Tony Roma's
Every day every time for (Cocktails, Mocktails & beer). Buy one get one free. Till May 31

UPCOMING EVENTS



Edge of the World @ Little Bar
Metal/ Rock with Moonless Acheron. Support: Hatemonger, RMB40.
Starts at 8 p.m. Friday, May 18

Disco Death @ Xiongmao
with Jovian & Big Snax + guest DJ
Friday, May 18

Martin Eyerer Xiongmao
Berlin DJ (Kling Klong & Renaissance)
Saturday, May 19

Western Brothers Team @ Little Bar
Rock with Ashtemato, Nanfangqiyu & No.2 Story. RMB40.
Starts at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 19

Sexy Saturday @ Shamrock
Free shorts for girls in skirts. Prize for shortest skirt.
Saturday, May 19


On fire @ Morning Bar (Sanshengxiang)
Punk party with Supermantiantian, New Queen, Vexatious, Narrenschiff, The Sad Sack, Rebel30, S-mud, The Hit. RMB50.
Starts at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 19]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 09:05:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2704/whats_on_chengdu_may_11_to_may_13 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2703/luodai_newancient_jadebelt_town
Said to be founded 2,000 years ago, the town has seen several immigration waves of Hakka people throughout the centuries. Starting as early as the 4th century and peaking during the Qing Dynasty 300 years ago, these waves brought Hakkas from various provinces.



Although more than 85 percent of the town's 30,000 locals are Hakka, making Luodai the biggest Hakka "city" in Sichuan, most foreigners won't be able to identify the Hakka-ness of the place, as the people are considered to be ethnically Han, and the dialect (Meixian) is said to most closely resemble Mandarin of all the Guangdong dialects.



As such, the best thing to do in Luodai is stroll among crowds and embrace the town's touristy, kitschy offerings. Spend your money on fortunetellers who measure the length of your finger for 1 kuai and hand you a slip of paper telling you about your personality and glorious future; listen to erhu players on the street; make way for wiry old men pushing handcarts filled with fat kids or the occasional old-fashioned rickshaw carrying a young middle-class couple from the city. If you are lucky, you'll get a glimpse of the one rickshaw in town that has a robot instead of a human pulling it. Children blow soap bubbles all day as you hop from shop to shop avoiding the numerous guys throwing toy slime balls on the ground once a minute to push their only product.



Unless you are a fan of handmade Hakka cigars there isn't anything sold in shops anyone actually needs, might it be Russian military accessory, little fortune turtles on the sidewalk, birds in bamboo cages, kitsch matchboxes with images of models or Bob Marley or washed-out cartoon characters from the '80s printed on their covers, plastic chicken-feet key holders, incense in bags, wooden pipes and toys. But all is cheap, as are the snacks found everywhere: buns and cakes, dried and preserved meats, liang fenr and smelly tofu that overshadows your stay. Some might be tempted by the Jiuzhaigou wild-boar (RMB10 for three sticks) and wild-deer meat, which is a little harder to come by in Chengdu. To complete the fun-fair feeling get a stick of cotton candy, shoot balloons with a rifle, watch kites soaring in the sky, take snapshots of tourists walking around in rented costumes, and force your friends to try the fried larvae and bugs (served, in true Sichuan style, with lajiao) or the wormwood buns that'll make you feel a little dizzy.



If you have more time and energy to kill, walk around the Luodai Park, visit the Randeng Temple and Luodai Museum or get to the Golden Dragon Wall in one of the many vans (around RMB5 per passenger) that wait at Julong Square. After a 15-minute ride, you arrive at a miniature Great Wall that leads you to the Buddhist Golden Dragon Temple. While for some the only reason to climb onto the entrance-free wall is to snap a photo of themselves and then caption it "Here I Am at Badaling," others claim to enjoy the hilly landscape surrounding the nearby river.

Attractions and Relevant Terms in English and Chinese



Luodai 洛带 "Jade Belt"

Well Square 水井广场
Point of entry for most visitors. Legend has it that the emperor of Shu Han dropped his jade belt into the well, hence the town's name.

Hakka 客家
An ethnic sub-group of Han Chinese, the majority of whom live in Guangdong

Hubei Hunan Guildhall 湖广会馆
The first of four guildhalls you'll pass as you exit Julong Square

Jiangxi Guildhall 江西会馆
Like the others, this guildhall serves as a teahouse and snack shop.

Wannian Platform 万年舞台
The platform is sometimes used for performances.

Guzhen Jie 古镇街
One-kilometer strip connecting the first three guildhalls

Guangdong Guildhall 广东会馆
This guildhall was built in 1747 and is the largest of the four.

North Sichuan Guildhall 四北会馆

Golden Dragon Wall 金龙长城
A scaled-down version of the Great Wall

Julong Square 聚龙广场
Pick-up point for shuttle to the Golden Dragon Wall; visitors can also browse the area's numerous traditional-costumes shops.



How to Go
40min by taxi or private driver RMB70 to 80
40min by bus 219 from Wuguiqiao Station 五桂桥汽车站 (RMB3)
60min by frequent buses from Xinnanmen Station 新南门公共汽车

If you really want to stay overnight, there are three hotels, each offering rooms for RMB150 per night—Brilliance Garden Hotel, Tianlun International Hotel, and the Chengdu Longfu Hotel.

The best time to visit Luodai is during the Hakka Fire Dragon Festival (Lunar New Year) and Water Dragon Festival (July).

Luodai official site
More about Hakka culture



This article was first published in CHENGDOO citylife Magazine, issue 11 ("guanxi"). Photos by Sam Stearman, Pat Rioux and Chris.]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 23:00:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2703/luodai_newancient_jadebelt_town http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2702/reading_sichuan_get_yourself_an_education
Balzac and the Little Seamstress
Dai Sijie



The charming coming-of-age story of two urban teenagers who are sent to re-education in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. There they impress the villagers with their knowledge and sophistication—playing the violin, wearing a wristwatch, but most of all, retelling stories from novels and current popular films. The boys pay particular attention to the attractive daughter of the local tailor, and romance eventually arises. Written in French and published in 2000, the novel was released in English and other languages a year later, and in 2002 released as a film. While the novel leaves the precise location of the village vague, the film pinpoints it as author Dai's home province of Sichuan.

First chapter

Wild Swans
Chang, Jung

One of the most well-known among the many memoirs of the Cultural Revolution, Jung Chang's Wild Swans portrayal of three generations of women coming of age in China makes for an engaging read. A significant portion of the novel—the stories of the author and her mother—are based in Sichuan, and readers who live in Chengdu will be able to connect with Wild Swans' glimpses into the city's history, such as Tianfu Square in the 1960s and the installation of the Chairman Mao statue. The book is also an excellent launching point for further reading on the Cultural Revolution and recent Chinese history in general.

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze
Hessler, Peter



One of the better-known volumes in the ever-growing library of foreigners writing memoirs of their stays in China, Hessler's memoirs of teaching English as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fuling, a town on the outskirts of Chongqing (then part of Sichuan) where no foreigner had set foot for 50 years, or so the story goes, offers an entertaining peek into the life of a foreigner adapting to life in China. Many of his tales of struggling with the language, attempts to teach students within an education system so different from his own, and general loafing about with locals will still resonate with foreign residents in China today. On the other hand, that Hessler happens to be in the demographic of the majority of foreigners who write on China—that is to say, white, North American and European males—virtually guarantees that the stories he tells and perspectives he brings to the literary table tow that party's line.

The Vanished Heavenly Country
Knight, Luther
消失的天府(1910-1913)美国教师路德 那爱德摄影作品集
广西师范大学出版社出版发行



Before there was any of us, there was Luther Knight. An American invited by the Qing government to teach at what is now Sichuan University in 1911, Knight's skillfully shot portraits and street scenes of Chengdu and surrounding areas are some of the oldest known photographs of the region. During his few years in China he captured the only known photographs of certain historical events and places and structures that have long since disappeared. Knight died in Chengdu in his early 30s and was buried in Sichuan; and his photos were apparently never shown to the public until the 21st century. Published in 2009 for the domestic market, this should be fairly easy to obtain in Chengdu, and although the text is all in Chinese, its main draw is the photos.

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
Dunlop, Fuchsia

Dunlop's 2008 memoir is a must read for anyone interested in Sichuan's justly famous cuisine. The author of the first authoritative Sichuan-cuisine cookbook in English, Dunlop in this book takes the reader on a fascinating journey through China's culinary history and culture. Full of evocative descriptions of food and insightful observations on modern Chinese mores, Dunlop's writing is particularly strong in the first half of the book, when she describes her first encounters with Chengdu and its food. Highly recommended.
—JL

Interview with Fuchsia Dunlop

Leave Me Alone, Chengdu
(成都,今夜请将我遗忘)
Murong Xuecun (慕容雪村)
Harvey Thomlinson, translator

Leave Me Alone, Chengdu is now-five-time novelist Murong Xuecun's debut effort, one that earned him Asia's most prestigious literary award and launched his career as a full-time writer. He published the novel online, sending shockwaves through the domestic publishing industry. The novel follows three men of the first generation to come of age in China's new economy—loafers passing through their working years in Chengdu. It was published in an English edition earlier this year and is also available in French, German, Vietnamese, and, next year, Italian.

An excerpt in the New York Times

Finally, Sichuan has provided the backdrop for a handful of commercial films in recent years; the most notable being Ning Hao's slapstick comedy Crazy Stone (2006), set in Chongqing and recorded partly in local dialect, and Jia Zhangke's pseudo-documentary 24 City (2008), set in Chengdu.

This article was first published in CHENGDOO citylife Magazine, issue 28 ("DIY").]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 21:25:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2702/reading_sichuan_get_yourself_an_education http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2696/the_rmb50000_puzzle_not_worth_it
A woman suffering from a mental disorder used scissors and her hands to tear 500 hundred-yuan notes into pieces no larger than a cigarette lighter. The money was to be used for her medical treatment.

Her husband, Lin Zhaoqiang from Jintang, frantically gathered the pieces into a plastic bag, which he brought to the Bank of China in Chengdu, arriving in desperation even before it opened.


At 9 a.m. he was shown into the bank's conference room, where he dumped all of the pieces of the notes onto the table, filling the 10 sqm surface.

According to the People's Bank regulations, torn or damaged bills can be exchanged only once they have been pieced together as a whole, explained operations manager Zhang Ping. Because the money was to be used for medical treatment, he assigned 12 bank employees to help Lin piece the notes together.


After considering their strategy for about 10 minutes, the employees decided to group all pieces with a similar part of the note design together. After three hours, they decided they needed a new approach and started to piece together a bill while organizing the pieces. The task proved to be challenging because for any particular piece they looked for, there were 499 others like it.

The 12 employees spent six hours piecing together one note, and after that they gave up.

In their current condition, the bills are completely invalid. "There's nothing we can do," said Zhang Ping.

Most damaged bills that are returned to the bank have been burnt, mildewed, or chewed on by rodents, said a bank employee. Regardless of the cause of the damage, however, at least three-quarters of the bill must be intact in order for it to be exchanged at the bank for its full value. Bills that are one-half to three-quarters intact are exchanged at half of their original value, and any bills under 50 percent intact are not accepted for exchange.

Netizens suggested exchanging the money based on its weight, but Zhang said that this cannot be done in case there are counterfeit shreds among the authentic ones. Others suggested using digital technology to piece the shreds together, but Zhang said that there is no device with such capability.

Late in the afternoon, Lin Zhaoqiang gathered the pieces carefully into his plastic bag and left the bank, saying he would not give up hope.

Photos courtesy of Huaxi Evening Post

More pictures here]]> Sat, 05 May 2012 14:50:00 +0800 http://www.gochengdoo.com/en/blog/item/2696/the_rmb50000_puzzle_not_worth_it