Chengdu: Environment, Food & Traffic

 I’ll try to do my best in describing the imagery of where I lived with my host family.

         My host family’s apartment: The apartment is on the 5th floor (no elevator) within a gated community. When you walk out there are tight streets that cars, scooters, bikers and walkers all migrate towards each other. There are other buildings surrounding you and small sitting areas to grab food and convenient stores on the ground level of the apartments. Children will be playing with the stray cats and old folks will play Chinese checkers on the wooden stools of the food place. When you finally exit out of the gate, you arrive on the main street which is really busy. Before you actually get to the main street you have to pass a huge rectangular dirt box. There is no path way to avoid the roads that are being deconstructed for future subways, so there is mud mixed with water and dirt everywhere.

        To get anywhere you must take the bus, bike, get a scooter or walk. Most, if not all have a scooter or a bike. There are 4 lanes on the road- 2 for cars, 1 for buses and 1 for scooters. The scooters and cars are bullies of the road. They chose whichever way they want to go and when to cut the buses and the people walking. They don’t stop for you; in fact they are oblivious that you even exist. There is no principle of rules and regulations or even penalties. The road is very much like the game “traffic madness” combined with “road kill revenge”. Yes, I’m basically willing to wear a helmet just walking to the bus station.

         Breakfast here consists of hard boiled egg, some kind of water with rice in it, cooked vegetables, hot pockets with meat in it and a bun that is pretty much tasteless and sticks to the roof of your tongue. For those who do not know, food in China is far from the American Chinese food. Apparently, chicken lo-mein is not even a real dish. So far I’ve had different types of noodles (mian). Noodles in soup, noodles with beef or pork, rice, preserved eggs, duck egg, duck, dumplings, and lots of other dishes with excruciating spices! Sichuan is known for spicy food and basically putting pepper in EVERYTHING. So far I’ve been lucky not to have too much of it, but some of the other volunteers took a bite of one pepper that makes your tongue numb! The areas where you get food is cramped usually among other “whole- in -the –wall” places, in an alley-way. From the first sight, you would not even consider walking in there, but you soon learn to love it. You sit where ever there is an available seat and you literally yell out “boss”(Laoban) in Chinese to get the attention of the “waiter” , who is caring a fanny-pack with a bunch of money to take down your order. It’s baffling to all of the volunteers who are paying only 5-8 kuai, which is a dollar and some change worth of lunch. Other places that are in nice restaurants are very expensive compared to the alley way food chains we always go to. Western food is THE most expensive, which is why we are leaving that for when we really feel home sick or want to splurge.