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We continued to explore the wonders, both natural and man-made, of the Sichuan Province this past week. It started with a visit to an ancient feat of engineering along a nearby river. The Dujiangyan irrigation system was built over 2,200 years ago and continues to irrigate the area around Chengdu and prevent flooding. I used my exploration time to cross a narrow swaying bridge and climb up to some Daoist temples that overlooked the river. With more misty mountains spreading out across the horizon, the view from up there was amazing.

Then we got to go to the panda sanctuary which was so much fun. The pandas we saw there were less than a year old and were delighting us by playing and climbing with their trademark, adorable clumsiness. It was one of my favorite days despite the steady rain falling on us the entire day. The other impressive wonders we traveled to were the Leshan Giant Buddha, a towering figure carved out of a stone cliff overlooking a river, and Mt. Emei, a sacred Buddhist mountain that has multiple statues and temples on its slopes and summit. While at the peak I had the rare experience of being on land and above the clouds. It was a very cool place.

I will conclude by sharing a picture I took of my Chinese partner Peter and two other Ohio State students on the trip. This photo was taken near the top of Mt. Emei. There are multiple temples on top of the mountain including the pictured statue of a ten-faced Buddha.

We made it! After a marathon of traveling and time changes that spanned almost two whole days, I’m finally in Chengdu. It’s been almost a week now and I think I’m adjusting fairly well to life as a student in China. I get up early and try to exercise on the campus track while it is still fairly cool. Then I eat breakfast in the cafeteria which usually comprises a hard-boiled egg and steamed bun with a savory pancake or some cold oatmeal made from red beans. Then I meet my classmates, both English and Chinese, for lecture. The topics of these lectures have varied from traditional Chinese clothing to Buddhism to herbal medicine.

Yesterday morning instead of lecture we participated in a cultural exchange of poetry, music, and dance. We heard quite a few Chinese poetry recitations and songs and I played the guitar while singing with a few other American students as my contribution. Other highlights so far include a late-night visit to a nearby Tibetan restaurant for tea and snacks, teaching Carmen Ohio to our Chinese partners, and getting a Chinese name (白君浩 pronounced bái jūn hào).

My partner in China is a student at the Southwest University for Nationalities where we are staying. His English name is Peter. He speaks English very well and he is helping me with my broken Chinese. All of the Chinese students we are partnered with belong to the Yi ethnic group which is a minority from southwest China. They ask us many questions about school and life in America. I show them pictures whenever I can. In many ways Peter and I are the same; in fact the number of parallels I see between our countries is surprising. I will talk more about these similarities in another post, I need to rest up for tomorrow!

Good night!

Chris

So my bags are packed with everything I should need for a month in China (and probably a few things I don’t need). I’m staying up late trying to get ready for the twelve hour time difference. Unfortunately, I have to get up at 4:15 AM tomorrow to be at the airport on time. It should be a very full day of travel. All in all, our group is going from Columbus to Chicago to Shanghai to Chengdu.

At this point I’m getting a little anxious. Did I bring everything? Did I forget anything? Do I have enough gifts to give people over there? How will I adjust? Will the food be too spicy (the Sichuan province is famous for its heat)? How is the internet? How will I cope without Facebook? These are the things that might keep me up tonight (not that last one though, I know I will be fine without Facebook). But I know it will all be fine once I’m there. I just have to take everything in stride.

Goodbye USA or 再见 (zài jiàn)!

Chris