Chengdu

We take a 2^nd overnight train from Xi'An to Chengdu, which is the capital of Sichuan Province. We walk through an old market area, but it is too early in the morning for the stalls to be open. The fronts of the stalls are closed up with wooden slats and as they start to be opened up they have to be removed one at a time.

 

Photo 1 of market street

 

We visit the People's Park and watch the local Chinese using the park. Almost every available space is being used for some form of physical exercise as well as just enjoying the park. There are individual people practicing Tai Chi, as well as small and larger groups dancing and doing forms of martial arts. It's fantastic to see a public park so well used and everyone is enjoying themselves.

Here are some pictures of some of what was going on in the park:

 

Photo 2 dance rehearsal

Photo 3 school children picnicking

Photo 4 tai chi

Photo 5 mothers and grannies and babies

Photo 6 dance with fans

Photo 7 some other type of dance

Photo 8 of salsa class

Photo 9 of line dancing

Photos 10  and 11  of tea house and people playing Mah-jong

 

Harvey takes us to a restaurant for lunch to sample the Sichuan speciality of 'hot pot'. This is a completely new eating experience. In the middle of the table is a gas burner and onto this is put a square metal tray, with a smaller round pot inside. These both contain stock. The inner one is spicy and the outer one is not. We are given a variety of different foods to put into the stock to cook: dumplings, meats, potatoes, lotus root, mushrooms, tofu skin, noodles etc. We are also given a bowl of rice and another bowl with sesame oil, which we flavour to our own taste with coriander, garlic, soy sauce, salt and chilli. When the food in the stock is cooked we ladle it out and dip it into the sesame oil and eat it with the rice. It is like a kind of fondue experience.

 

Photo 12 of hot pot meal

 

We are enjoying this meal and making a fine old mess when one of the waitresses lets out a shriek and we see a snake coming in through the door of the restaurant! It is an escapee from the snake restaurant next door. Some of us jump up onto our chairs and it slithers under some tables and takes refuge behind a fridge. The man from the restaurant next door comes in and extricates it from behind the fridge. He picks it up in two hands; one for the head and one for the tail; smiles and leaves. We sit back down and carry on with lunch.

In the evening we visit a theatre to see some Sichuan opera. The show is a combination of highly skilled acts of ancient Chinese arts – a taster for the tourists, both Chinese and western. The result is a kind of variety or vaudeville  show. As we go into the theatre we are able to see the artists putting on their make-up. One older performer has completed his make up and sits there looking like a pantomime dame, smoking. Another is a beautiful young girl who concentrates carefully on her eye make-up.

 

Photo 13 of smoking performer

Photo 14 of girl applying make up

 

As we take our seats to wait for the performance women serve us tea in china cups with lids on low tables between the rows of seats.

 

Photo 15 of waiting for the performance

 

The whole show is introduced by a beautiful young woman who explains each act both in Chinese and English. She would not be out of place announcing for the Eurovision Song Contest – except we are in the wrong continent. The first act is by musicians playing a variety of stringed and percussion instruments. To my ears it is a little harsh and discordant. The stringed instrument has two strings and a drum and the bow is made of snake skin.

 

Photo 16 of orchestra

Photo 17 of stringed instrument

 

Then we see an excerpt from an opera, with one main singer, who has a voice that could shatter glass, and a chorus. The costumes are stunning, with headdresses and flags on their backs.

 

Photo 18 of opera

 

Then there is a stick puppet act. The old man started working with puppets when he was 8 years old and now he is 82. He makes the puppet move very realistically and expressively. She even moves her fingers and picks a flower and puts it in her hair.

 

Photo 19 of stick puppet

 

Then there is a shadow puppet show. One man sits behind a screen and in front of a light and uses his hands to make animals – you know the kind of thing. He is incredibly skilful and makes different birds that fly and settle on his head, a dog that barks, a horse that trots and gallops, rabbits and a wolf that comes and eats a rabbit.

 

Photo 20 of shadow puppet

 

The final act is of face-changing; which is something that is apparently famous, but I had never come across it before. The performers dance and have coloured masks on their faces. As they look away, turn around or pass a fan across their face they are suddenly wearing a different mask. The changes are so quick, it is impossible to see how they do it.

 

Photo 21 of face-changing

 

We are all impressed with the show and are glad that we went.