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| I'm a little envious of these pandas' napping ability. |
The last two days have been all fun, and no work. Wednesday Liu Liu took me to the Chengdu Panda
Breeding Research Park, and then yesterday she took me to meet a friend of hers
who is a local artist. Both days were
wonderful in very different ways.
The Panda Park was absolutely beautiful. I’ve been amazed at how green and lush the
landscaping is here. There were long
windy shady paths that led to the different enclosures, as well as to a Swan
Lake filled with carp. I’m not sure what
I expected of the pandas, but they were fun to see. They all were napping in various positions,
many high up in the trees. I don’t
understand how they got up that high, as many of the branches didn’t look to be
that strong.
The park was filled with school children visiting on a field
trip. I loved seeing their happy faces
and hearing their high pitched voices. Many of them had back packs with familiar
cartoon characters (Mickey Mouse, Transformers, Cars), and some of them made a
point to yell “hello” to me as I passed by.
Liu Liu kept commenting on how noisy it was, but it didn’t feel as bad
as most American amusement parks. I
guess it’s normally quiet and peaceful though.
We did have a lovely picnic lunch on a park bench and wandered around
for quite some time.
I also encountered the first Americans I’ve seen since I
arrived, and instead of feeling a kinship, I felt embarrassed. There were signs all over the place, in both Chinese
and English, to speak quietly to not disturb the animals. I turned a corner at one point and standing
directly across one of these signs was an American couple and their child. The mother kept yelling – loudly – at the
kid, reprimanding him for some minor infraction. Her voice sounded harsh and discordant, even
among the din of the school children, and the juxtaposition with that and the sign
asking for quiet was too much. Instead
of saying hello and having the conversation in English I had been craving only
the day before, I walked by, not wanting to connect with them at all.
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| Liu Liu (left) with her friend artist Shen Yunquing |
Thursday marked the beginning of a national holiday, which I
believe is “Tomb Sweeping” day, a
holiday to visit the graves of deceased relatives. Things were quiet on campus, but it did seem
like many businesses were still open.
That afternoon Liu Liu picked me up and took me to visit a friend of
hers, a local artist named Shen Yunqing.
I enjoy art, even though I’m not knowledgeable about it, and appreciated
the opportunity to visit with an artist and ask about her work. The studio was in an industrial neighborhood
about 10km from campus, and was in a block with several other artists. Shen has worked with many different
materials, including iron, bronze and paper.
I couldn’t believe how many beautiful pieces were in her studio, on
dusty shelves. Two sets of works in
particular drew me in: one was a series
she did for the Beijing Olympics depicting athletes in different activities (two of these pieces remain in Olympic Park),
and another was a set of dancers. I took
a few pictures (like this one of a discus thrower), but they don’t do
the work justice at all.
After the studio visit, we went to dinner at a restaurant
recommended by my boss Sherrie. It turns
out Shen is a bit of a local foodie, and has connections with local restaurateurs. I got to sit back and relax, and let Shen and
Liu Liu order an amazing array of dishes.
Some were typical local specialties, and others were new to Shen and Liu
Liu as well (they had never tried fennel before – I had to draw what one looks
like for them). I did at one point give
up on my chopsticks – I was too hungry and darn it I wanted to eat this good
food so I did make use of a fork for a while.
Imagine my surprise when the final dish of the night arrived : a small
plate of oranges and grape tomatoes, accompanied by, of all things, a
fork.
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