The earthquake

Our field trip to Mount QingCheng, one of the most famous Taoist mountains in China, was slated for the morning of April 20th at 8am.  Gathering a group of 20+ students in China always proved to be an interesting endeavor. On this particular Saturday, many of us were late leaving the hotel.  The speed walking turned into a jog as we ran through the streets trying to reach the bus on time. When we arrived at the bus, everyone was a buzz, asking if we had felt the earthquake.  Oddly enough, as sensitive as I claim to be, I hadn’t felt a thing. The experienced Californians in the group calmly guided everyone in the middle of the street during the shaking. Thankfully, it wasn’t a huge earthquake for Chengdu but it did trigger some memories of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan which caused almost 70, 000 deaths.

The pandas

We rerouted the field trip to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding since Mount QingCheng was affected in the last earthquake. We tried to carry on, thankful that everyone was ok and praying that others in the area were safe.

The pandas distracted us from the earthquake except for the helicopters flying overhead.  They were cuter in person than I could have imagined! Although I confess I had thoughts of dipping them into a bit of Clorox to whiten their dirty white fur.

Seeing the pandas was a delight but contemplating their destiny was rather depressing. They cannot tolerate the heat very well so they often spend times inside with air conditioning. The constant crowds of tourists yelling “How cute!!” around these solitary creatures seemed counterproductive to their well-being.

Thankfully, the rose garden near the exit was uplifting and oxygenating. We had been in the city for only a week but I was in desperate need of nature and greenery. The rose garden was one of the most exquisite I have ever seen.  I wanted to say there.  I returned to the hotel with the rest of my classmates with a few rose petals in my pocket.

We visited People’s Park in Chengdu soon after our arrival. It was a Saturday and it was packed. As we continued through the park, we heard something that could only be described as a Battle of the Bands….different types of music pumping loudly through questionable speakers. Then, I had a visual….and realized it wasn’t just a Battle of the Bands…it was a Dance Off at the Battle of the Bands! I hope this video conveys the auditory and visual delight of being in People’s Park, watching music of all genres move people of all ages….simultaneously.

Herbal Pharmacy

We walked circles around the University hospital and University campus from the day we arrived in Chengdu.

On our first day, we geeked out in a Chinese pharmacy, confusing the herbalist behind the counter as we eagerly quizzed ourselves by trying to identify all the raw herbs we saw rather than trying to place an order.

We made our way through campus and found a music store which became home to several of the musicians in our group.

Oh, I cannot count how many pipas and erhus made their way back to Austin, TX!

On our walk, we saw some Chinese people in line which led to some yummy, spicy Sichuan french fries which reminded us that we were indeed in Sichuan country, home of the Sichuan pepper, huājiāo, and unfortunately the land of MSG.

spicy sichuan french fries

Next, we spotted a tuina (Chinese massage) studio that became our favorite place for a massage.  One day, Melsa and I spent our lunch hour getting a foot massage for $6. Heaven.

The short cut through the uni to avoid traffic led us to the statue of Zhang Zhongjjing, the Father of  Chinese Herbal Formulas, at the hospital where we gathered every morning before our hospital rounds.

Then, the neon KTV and Happy Days sign always meant we were almost to the hotel.

Ahhhh.  Chengdu.  Home sweet home.

After our sightseeing days in Beijing, we flew to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China.  Chengdu would be our home base for the next 4 weeks while studying at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is known for being a manageable Chinese city because of its compact size with only 12 million inhabitants.  After we checked into our room at the Haoge Business Hotel, I looked out our window and was awed by the traffic at the intersection below. I opened the window and suddenly, the chaotic movements of the pedestrians, cars, motorbikes, and buses combined with the horns and the jack hammer drove me into sensory overload.  In that moment, I realized I was experiencing my first bout of culture shock, doubting my ability to live for the next month with that kind of assault to my senses on a daily basis.  Over the next few weeks, however, watching the traffic from that intersection became a gauge of cultural immersion. I started to discover some order to the madness.  But trusting in the controlled chaos as a pedestrian proved to be harder than viewing it from above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80WrpHOQXZM&feature=youtu.be

It only took about 2 days in Beijing before I realized I couldn’t capture the essence of China with my still camera. Luckily, I couldn’t find a way to capture the smells but thankfully, you get to experience some of the sights and sounds.  My first video inspiration from watching tai chi with rackets in the Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing:

As a sensitive and visual person, I remember watching footage of the students and tanks in Tiananmen Square when I was in high school. I couldn’t even begin to understand the nuances of the political situation from my vantage point as an American high school student from the suburbs in northwest Houston. But I never forgot those images.

Even today, after spending 5 years studying Chinese medicine and 6 weeks in China, my understanding of that time is so limited.  But there I was, standing in Tiananmen Square, reflecting on courageous, bold students everywhere who still believe in changing the world.

I arrived in Beijing, China on April 8th after a long but (thankfully) uneventful flight with ~17 other classmates from AOMA and our fearless leader, Dr. Shen (I’ll tell ya the gangsta monkey story later!).

I brought a book about train travels in China called Riding the Iron Rooster by one of my favorite travel writers, Paul Theroux. The book traveled with me everywhere but somehow I managed to read only a few chapters on the flight to Beijing and a few more chapters about Tibet on the flight to Lhasa. The other day, oddly, I found it in the glove box of my car (?!), perhaps waiting for my next flight.

At the Beijing airport, a tour guide and bus driver picked us up at the airport in a tour bus that would be our home for the next 4 days in Beijing.  The tour guide, June, spoke about herself in the 3rd person which became comical only after the initial confusion subsided from trying to locate this tour guide named June. We drove to the hotel as she prepped us for the upcoming activities while we were in Beijing.  She explained that we would be on our own for dinner and directed us to some restaurants and a 7-11 behind the hotel.

And so began our jetlagged, language-challenged adventure in China….