On the road in Chengdu

Today we arrived in Chengdu and after dropping our stuff off in our room we had a very satisfying lunch in the hotel restaurant. Our guide and driver joined us and we enjoyed a very tasty meal of steamed cod and spicy beef. It definitely helps to have a native speaker (or 2) help with the ordering. We ate family style and were given a lesson in the correct way to use chop sticks.

After changing some money at the bank, we took a ride to visit the Sanxingdui Bronze Museum about 40 kilometers away in the town of Nanxing. The complex was built to display a vast collection of relics discovered accidentally by a farmer over 2 decades ago. Everything was found in several sacrificial burial pits. The artifacts are quite stunning.

Since a good portion of the trip was waswn't on the highway, the ride to the museum gave us some time to observe the locals, their landscape (both urban and rural) and daily routine. From our arrival in China, I have been impressed with the sheer volume of visual information that bombards the population everywhere one turns. Whether its billboards or banners, bicycles or buses its a cacophony of sites and sounds and they are as colorful as they are loud.

Things would be more overwhelming if the backdrop of buildings and sky were equally bright and cheerful. Instead they are mostly grey and dull. There seems to be a coat of dust on everything. We were told in Beijing that most dwellings are intentionally left colorless to signify the humility of the occupants. This is certainly true of the older apartment buildings and factories we could see, but there certainly appears to be newer construction that seems to be bucking the trend.

Something else I have observed is the frequency the Chinese in the 3 cities we have visited use their car horns. It is an incessant clamor for attention. With cars, buses, trucks, bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, and pedestrians all converging together often times without care for the rules of the road, the din can be deafening. Can you recall the last time you used your car horn? I can't even recall which part of my steering wheel you have to push to make it work. Literally, our driver probably used the horn 30+ times. And that was just on the return trip.

The picture I attached was taken during our drive of one of the many truckcycles (motorcycle trying hard to be a truck) that competes for space on the road. You wouldn't believe either the amount of stuff or oblong sizes that these guys manage to haul.

Tomorrow we will make the trek to see the Leshan Giant Buddha.

Good night!

Andrew