The Herb and Tea Market

Saturday morning I slept in, for me, and then met Andrea and Deborah at North Gate at 9:15am to make our way to the Chinese Herb Market. The Chinese Herb Market is located on the north side of town and it took more than an hour of navigating though crazy Chinese traffic to get there. But it was worth it. The market was huge and amazing. It is the largest Chinese Herb Market in Southwestern China, and given this is the center of herbal medicine in China, possibly the biggest Chinese herb market in the world. It was about twice the size of the Farmer's Market in St. Paul and had another "everything market" just as big right next door. Inside each stall was about 10ft by 10ft and in it people had huge burlap sacks filled with different dried plants and animals. The wares ranged from the ordinary to the extraordinary. I saw little dried berries, plums, and orange peels which I use in my tea. I also saw deer penis, scorpions, snakes, turtle shells, locus skins, ants, and worms, all also dried of course. The most common things looked like deflated potatoes or wood chips. I also got to see most of the things that were in my formula, all of which are leaves, berries, or roots of some kind. After talking to Andrea about it more, I have also decided not to continue with the medicine. I didn't really feel like I had a problem before, so I feel no need to correct it, although it was a fun experience.
After leaving the Herb Market we rode a little ways back and stopped at the biggest tea market in Chengdu. After the herb market, the tea market seemed quiet, clean, and civilized. The tea market was more a bunch of separate little shops and was much less crowded. We walked into one tea shop that Andrea had been to before with her friend and got to taste two different kinds of teas. Tea tastings are actually kind of elaborate affairs. They have a special board and all these special serving dishes and cups and there is a whole ceremony that goes along with it. First they boil the water and pour the hot water into a little cup with the tea in it and put a little tea lid on top. The first brew they pour on all the serving cups and always make an offering to a little animal, usually a frog, that sits on the board by pouring the first tea over him. After that they brew again and pour it into a little serving pot to pour it into our little cups. We got to try two kinds of tea, both of which were Pu'er. Pu'er tea is a kind of tea that is sold fresh (not dried) in compressed brick or disc form. There are two kinds of Pu'er, sheng and shou. Sheng is freshly pressed where as shou has something added to it I think to aid fermentation. We got to try both. Pu'er tea is like wine or cheese, where the older it is the better. We tried 2 year old samples of both, which were very good. There was a man and his wife who owned the shop and they both sat and chatted with us with there new little baby while we drank tea. The man said that the oldest tea he had was 19 year old. Sheng tea tastes alot like green tea, I think, but it very good. Shou tea, however, is like no other tea I have had before and had a much rounder, fuller, more savory taste. I liked it alot. It was very fun to test the teas and learn about tea culture. The discs you see in the picture are Pu'er teas from the shop. They also like to imprint them with different pictures or designs, often coins.
Today I didn't do anything special, just homework, made bread and watched Firefly. I went over to Matt's house and we made Challah, a Jewish sweet bread. Matt for some reason is obsessed with this bread and bought an oven explicitly for the purpose of making it. Now I see why, because it was delicious. Maybe I have just been having bread withdrawal, but I definitely made up for it today. The bread turned out really well, considering the circumstances. Chinese kitchens usually do not have ovens, so Matt's "oven" is like a toaster oven on steroids but worked pretty well, except for burning the outside a little bit.

What is revolutionary?

I just got back from my Chinese Politics class and it was a really interesting lecture today. We were talking about the May 4th Movement and then our teacher showed us some pictures from the Cultural Revolution and talked about how people view Communism and that time period today. For those of you unfamiliar with Chinese history (don't feel bad, I didn't know anything until I came here), the May 4th Movement occurred in 1919 and is when the first Tiananmen Square protest happened in response to the treaty of Versailles, which conceded to the Japanese. Many people regard the May 4th Movement as the start of modern Chinese politics for two reasons. One, it was the beginning of the mass political movement and the first time China really broke away from the feudal system. Second, the Communist Party views this as its birth, therefore so does present day China. It is unusual that they would pick this day because it is still years before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would win the civil war over the Guomingdang (Nationalists) and officially take power. However, the CCP likes to view anything remotely revolutionary as Communist, so there you have it. It is still amazing to me what this country and these people have been through, and so recently. Our teacher told us stories today about how his father had to undergo humiliating and brutal denouncement meetings, like many "counter-revolutionaries" did during the Cultural Revolution and his own 14 year old daughter was there as part of the Red Guards to criticize him. He says his family sometimes laughs about that time now, like it's a family joke. His father says his family is lucky because no one died. He also said that some of his older colleagues at the college remember when there was violence on this campus. They told him how one day one of their friends did not run away fast enough and instead of shooting him they buried him alive right here on this campus. There are those kinds of stories, but we also talked about some of the good things during that time. It was interesting because China definitely still has flaws now and in many ways they are exactly the opposite as the ones they had before. Our teacher showed us pictures and talked about the solidarity and excitement people felt at starting a new government that had the possibility of making their lives better. Now people are just apathetic. He talked about the sense of community people had, especially in the beginning before the Red Guard phase. Now people, on large part, have broken Confusion ties to their family and communities are too big to create any real sense of belonging. People seem ready to walk all over anybody if it will make them an extra dollar. For example, people don't que in China. If you are waiting for the bus and it comes, you try to cram your way on as quickly as possible, there is never any line. It is completely acceptable too and if you try to wait your turn, it will never come because people will just keep coming and cutting in front of you. It took me alot of waiting around to figure this out, but it really is each man for himself. There was also still a very strong work ethic. People had pride in what they did and were very careful and diligent in their work. This is why so many old, historical relics remain, because of the quality of craftsmanship. Now China is well known for pirated DVD's and knock-off purses and watches. It's again, all about money. Even in school, people always ask me why I decided to major in Chemical Engineering and I answer, because I like it. That is always a weird answer for them because pretty much everyone chooses the path, or major, that will make them the most money the fastest with little or no regard for the actual discipline. Some people even want to go back to the pre-cultural revolution days, when Communism was still young and in a way I understand that. I'm just starting to understand the history, culture, and politics of this crazy, huge country and all the previous statements are, of course, huge generalizations, but I just thought it was interesting. There is also tons more to say, but that is all I can think of how to verbalize right now. The times they are a changin'... ... but in China I'm not really sure to where. This last picture is from the post office, to illustrate that the Communist Party is definitely still alive and kicking.

A parade of holidays and the mid-week update

I just got back from having a massage and it was absolutely fabulous! I have had a massage in the states before once and I was not that thrilled. This was way more fun and it felt great. My friend Sophie, who is French and is my partner in Chinese class, took me. She has this book of coupons she bought that she has to use up by the end of November, so we used those. She has lived here for almost 2 years now because her husband is here on work. The spa was in Tianfu mall, by my house. We walk in and you take off all your clothes and put on these little disposable paper underwear and a robe and little flip flops. Sophie and I were together in the same room. You take off your clothes and they do a lighter rub down with lotion all over. Really all over, even your butt and stomach. Then you go into the shower and rinse off. Then you come back and they do a more intense massage with oil and focus more on your back. Then you sit up and they rub this thick lotion on your back and put saran wrap over it and you go sit in the steam room for a while. When you can't sit in there any longer you get out and rinse off and then you are done. It took a little more than an hour and a half and afterwards I felt wonderful, relaxed and fresh and clean and soft. I probably won't go back, but it was really nice to be pampered for an afternoon.
In other news, Monday was Chongyang jie, or double ninth festival. It occurs on the ninth day of the ninth moon. The number nine in Chinese is pronounced "jiu" and sounds alot like the word for "a very long time". The number nine is also associated with the yang, meaning masculine or positive. People eat special tower-like cakes (the word for cake "gao" is also similar to the word for height) and climb mountains to hope for accession and forward progress in the coming year. In 1989 it was also dedicated by the government as Senior's Day and many people will spend this day with their grandparents and bring them presents. More importantly for me, Monday was also Li Juan's birthday. She turned 28 and we had a bunch of her friends over to the house for a party. They made alot of food and she asked Laura and I to make spaghetti, which went over well but we made WAY too much. Li Juan was also hosting a Japanese student at the time who didn't speak any Chinese or English, but came to the party with a interpreter who is a Japanese major at ChuanDa. I never rally figured out why he was here, but he was only visiting for a few days and then he was going back home. After dinner and cake Li Juan wanted us to go with the Japanese guy and his interpreter to see some of the well-known places in Chengdu. We all went to JingLi street, which is the street in the temple where there was all the touristy stuff, and to Chingqi Lu, which is the shopping street. I had never been to either of the places at night, so it was pretty cool to see all the lights. Everything has flashing neon lights and it's pretty impressive when you get them going all together. Monday was also my first day of cooking class. We all took a taxi together because not everyone knew how to get there and arrived at the school early to try get out coats and go over some final things before we began class. Our teacher is one of only two chefs in Sichuan with the title "dashi" or great chef. Surprisingly, he is also really, really nice and friendly. I can understand most of what he says, except for the cooking terms, and I like him alot. The first day we just talked about Sichuan Cuisine and how it was different from other types of Chinese cuisine and different from Western cuisine. We also talked about the kitchen, common flavors, and common techniques. Then we learned how to sharpen our knives. Tuesday was our second class and we worked on knife skills for the whole two hours. There are all sorts of different ways to cut things, in strips, in chunks, in diamonds, in flowers, etc. I had always been pretty bad at precision cutting, but after they taught me the techniques I actually did pretty well. The pictures are of me in my chef outfit that I have to wear to class with my cleaver (pretty professional, huh?) and of the courtyard of our school, which is really nice and picturesque. In this courtyard is where they have whet stones for sharpening knives. They have about 15 or 20 3 foot tall by 1 foot long by 4 inches wide stones sticking up out of the ground in a row for sharpening knives. I'll try to take more pictures, but I feel kind of stupid taking pictures in class.
Tuesday, of course, was also Halloween. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! We didn't do anything exciting because we were a little adventured out and just wanted to relax a little. I went to the store and bought every kind of Chinese candy I could find so we could all try and I went over to Matt's house dressed as the Statue of Liberty. I was the only one dressed up, but that was OK. Ben, Deborah, and some of the Sichuan students were there too and we just watched a movie. We watched Silent Hill which is a terrible movie and should never be watched. The acting and the plot are both horrible and it is not scary at all. But we had a good time anyways and I can now truthfully say that, although there were some pretty tasty Chinese candies, none of them compare to US candy, especially from the Confectionery. That is probably a good thing though because Laura has decided to not eat sugar until Thanksgiving and I told her I would do it with her. This way I won't be tempted. If either of us quits, we have to buy the other a Starbucks coffee, which is pretty expensive. We are also going to buy ourselves Starbucks if we make it all the way, it is just a matter of who buys it. I think it's a good prize because I have not been to a coffee shop yet except to buy beans and I miss it.
Halloween night was beautiful and I got to see the moon and a few stars as I was riding home, which is rare. This was followed by a beautiful, clear, cool, sunny day. I hope it lasts. It's finally starting to feel a little cooler and I like that too.
Other than that the week is flying by as usual. They still won't give me my second place medal because my Chinese language school organizer (I just call here banggongshi de laoshi, or office teacher) wants to have some sort of separate award ceremony so they can take pictures or something. I'm not really sure, but I'm sure it'll turn up sometime and I'll let you know when it does.