Chengdu Biz Trip

[from Coleman] I recently made a business trip to chengdu to do some market research. Chengdu is the capital city of the sichuan province (think sichuan food) and is also close to the earthquake devastation, and close to beautiful mountains and scenery.

Unfortunately I did not see the scenery, only lots of buildings... It looked very similar to any other big city in China.

However, I did get to have some of the legendary food there, including my favorite meal yet in China of Kung Pao chicken and Ma Po Tofu, and also another meal with a new fave: sichuanese hot pot. Hot pot is like fondue where you choose a broth and they bring you raw meat and vegetables to cook in it. However, at the restaurant I ate, it's one big vat of broth for the whole table, which is fine, except that all of your food is cooking in there together and when some of that food includes duck stomach, cow stomach and chicken entrails, it's good not to focus on that part.


The broth itself was red with hot peppers and had a number of other ingredients, one in particular that changed my expectations for sichuan food forever - I'm going to call it the magic seed because I still don't know what it is called in English, but the chinese name is "hua jiao." It makes your mouth go numb - not like the dentist where you have to worry about chewing your cheek instead of your meal, and no hallucinations or any side effects to speak of, but it makes your mouth mildly numb. It's quite a sensation and one I surprisingly like.

In addition to the hot pot, we also went to the hot pot restaurant we went to because of the face changing show it includes with dinner. This you have to see to believe, and I'm afraid my camerawork is not going to help things much, but if you look closely at his face, you'll see he has a total of I think five different masks on during this one-minute clip, including two very quick changes at the end. Even with the cell phone video camera, I think you can see why this local style of entertainment is famous in China.



On the last of my trip, a Friday, the doctors cut out of work early, which allowed for a quick change and a couple of hours at a really cool museum/memorial temple in Chengdu. It pays homage to a number of great Chinese leaders, warriors and strategists who lived during the time that Chengdu was the capital of the Middle Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms era.

This was a period of about 60 years from 220 - 280 AD when these three kingdoms fought against each other to try and take over each others' land. This was a period when great war strategy and technology was developed and has been romanticized and perpetuated in literature and film, solidifying this period in Chinese culture. There were some great Bonzai gardens there, as well as a burial ground for one of the great emporers, Liu Bei, and a museum with artifacts from this time.














And finally, on the street you exit this temple and these great sights, there are all kinds of things you can buy. One of the coolest things I saw there was this man who was blowing sugar, like glass, into little animal sculptures. I continue to be amazed at all of the skills people here have developed.

One of the things I have since learned that I missed was the Panda breeding ground. This is about an hour away from Chengdu, and we may not make it out there as a family either, but I hear it is in a beautiful area. This is the world's only panda breeding facility and they let you hold the baby pandas there, which I'm sure is a very cool experience. Maybe next time...