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Amanda Smith.
clay dubeWe need our Chengdu team (Cynthia and Amanda) to get some information posted about this fascinating city. In the meantime, though, please take a moment to read this article by a fantastic journalist and author Ian Johnson (NY Times, here in the NY Review of Books) on the legacy of the terrible 2008 quake that killed tens of thousands of people and left millions homeless.
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/05/09/after-shocks-of-the-2008-sichuan-earthquake/
Here are a couple of items from our websites that touch on the earthquake and the recovery effort:
http://www.uschina.usc.edu/article@usct?life_after_512_a_volunteers_experience_in_sichuan_12750.aspx
https://china.usc.edu/wong-spearheads-psychological-first-aid-earthquake-victims-china
https://china.usc.edu/bamboo-house-built-quake-victims
Cynthia LehrI approached my research into this city first from a tourism standpoint. Lonely Planet was my primary guide. Number one on their tourism sites is the giant panda breeding research base. There are approximately “120 giant and 76 red pandas”, with mating season between March and May, and newborns arriving in the autumn and winter (95-160-day gestational period on giant pandas, 135 days being the average). Looks like the pandas have nice, well-kept, wide-open spaces, thankfully. (Near where I lived briefly in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, there was a tiny zoo with one three-legged bear in an enclosure the size of half a train car—it could make you cry, but luckily it was shut down ten years ago. Zoos can crop up anywhere, whether they have the resources to maintain the animals or not!) If one were to go to this breeding center during July, the pandas would probably be sleeping, especially indoors in air conditioning.
Tea houses are popular in Chengdu as well, with some tea houses serving recipes that date back hundreds of years, with the most popular being jasmine, maofeng, and zhuyeqing. Some also have tea-pouring performances, and of course pickup games of miajang (mahjong being an alternate spelling? I’m assuming that is the same game). In the research I did, it sounds like coffee shops are starting to edge out tea houses.
There are plenty of temples to visit. There is a large, well-preserved Buddhist temple dating from the Tang dynasty: Wéngshū. It has 190 rooms housing artifacts such as calligraphy, paintints, and other cultural relics. It also has an apparently recently-renovated vegetarian restaurant that is quite popular.
Hungry? Sichuan food abounds, as Chengdu is the capital of this province. The barbecue skewers look delicious!
More in another post, so as not to overwhelm!
Cynthia LehrSo, Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan province. It seems to be a travel hub for cities in southwestern China. From a more historical perspective, using http://www.gochengdu.cn as my source, Chengdu was founded about 2,300 years ago (Qin Dynasty) and “is the only city in Chinese history that has survived to date with its name and site remaining unchanged”. I used this website to research more of the historical sites to see:
The Jinsha archaelogical site was found in the early 2000s; archaeologists have unearthed finds from the 12th to 7th centures B.C. (Talk about a country with history!). There have been finds of thousands of gold, bronze, jade, stone, and ivory articles—even the foundation of a palace, a burial site, a residential area, a sacrifical area… The site has a theme park and a museum to help accrue monies for continued excavations and research. From these excavations, they found “a circular golden foil featuring four flying birds surrounding the sun”, which the country has adopted as its symbol of cultural heritage (in 2005) and later as the city of Chengdu’s logo (in 2011).
In the area (about 60 km from downtown Chengdu) is the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, “the oldest water-control project still in service in the world”. Just makes you think—could we have survived two thousand years ago, with what we know exists now? Because two thousand years ago, they were engineering and planning and thinking just as well, withoiut a few (hundred….) technologies we now rely on.
For the literature buffs, Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770), a contemporary of Li Po (whom I taught this year in the World Lit portion of IB), lived for four years in Chengdu, and there is a Thatched Cottage Museum, a park and museum in his honor. This cultural heritage site was begun during the 1500s during the Ming dynasty, and renovated in 1811 during the Qing Dynasty, which portrays the value these multiple dynasties have in preserving culture.
There is plenty more to discuss--we could probably live there for a year and not visit every place there is to see (considering some of the historical sites are so LARGE, they would probably take several days to really see all).
Amanda SmithWe are spending three days in Chengdu. I decided to do some research on the various places and activities that we will be taking part in during our stay.
Sichuan Opera
Immigrants brought their local dialect, customs, folk music, and dance to Sichuan province where Chengdu is located. These different experiences led to the creation of the Sichuan Opera around 1644 near the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty.
Sichuan Opera is famous for face changing. Face changing is a magical art, where actors can change more than 10 masks in less than 20 seconds. The actor uses different masks to show different emotions. It is believed that the ancient skill of face changing originated with ancient people who pained their faces to drive away wild animals.
Watch Videos Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kqb7opDQtg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxDkFvZS_30
Chengdu High tech zone
The Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone was designated as one of the first state-level hi-tech development zones opened in 1991. By the end of 2012, there were more than 33,000 various companies, including over 1,100 foreign-invested ones and over 50 Fortune Global 500 ones including Intel, Motorola, Maersk, IBM, Dell, Siemens, Philips, Deutsche Bahn, Schneider Electric etc.
Tianfu Square
Tianfu Square, the symbol of Chengdu, is located in the city center. Being the largest city square in southwest China, it enjoys similar position and fame in Sichuan as Tiananmen Square in Beijing. With an area of 88,368 square meters (105,687 square yards), the square is a special sight encircled by skyscrapers. It is said that one who fails to visit Tianfu Square doesn’t even visit Chengdu.
Tianfu Square is in the shape of a circle, which is divided into two equal parts by an s-shaped line. The center of Tianfu Square is the Golden Sun Bird pattern, which was discovered on an artifact at the Jinsha Ruins. A fountain is located on the west side of a square and the east side contains a statue representing Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers. To the north of the square is the Sichuan Science and Technology Museum where the iconic Chairman Mao statue stands in front of the museum. Chengdu Museum is located on the west square and contains general history, folk customs, and shadow puppets. Next door is the Imperial Mosque, which included ancient Islamic buildings and scriptures.
Kuan & Zhai Alley
Wide Alley (Kuan Xiangzi) and Narrow Alley (Zhai Xiangzi) is one of Chengdu’s historical and cultural preservation areas. The Wide Alley features Chengdu folk culture, the Narrow Alley shows the courtyard culture of the city.
The alleys date back to the Qing Dynasty, the area was originally Mancheng City or Shaocheng City where the court quartered troops. The city decayed over time and the alleys were all that were left. In 2008, the newly renovated alleys were open to the public as a shopping and entertainment district.
Taikoo Li
A pedestrian area containing restaurants and shops. On one end is the Daci temple complex and the other end is Guangdong Hall. The Daci temple is one of the largest Buddhist monastery in Sichuan, the current buildings were mainly constructed in the Qing Dynasty. A former meeting place for merchants, the Guangdong Hall now host various exhibits.
Jianchuan Museum in Dayi County
The cluster of museums spread across 80 acres of land, with a collection of over 8 million artifacts. The motto of the museum project is “collect war for peace, collect lessons for the future, collect disasters for safety and collect folklore for inheritance”. The cluster now consists of about 30 individual museums, organized by four major themes: the Anti-Japanese War (1937 – 1945), the ‘Red Age’ (Cultural Revolution 1966 – 1976), the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, and Folklore and Culture. Jianchuan Museum Cluster is so far the largest non-state museum project in China.
Hot-Pot dinner
Hot pot is a Chinese cooking method, prepared with a simmering pot of soup stock at the dining table. The hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leaf vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, tofu, and seafood. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce.
Amanda SmithI live in Atlanta where we are lucky to have four pandas at the zoo. The mother (Lun Lun) and father (Yang Yang) pandas were raised at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. They were loaned to Zoo Atlanta in 1999, as part of China’s efforts to win the Beijing Olympics.
Two years ago, the pair gave birth to their second set of twins (Ya Lun and Xi Lun). Twins are extremely rare. They have seven children; the other five children currently live in Chengu. The Zoo is only allowed to keep the cubs for a few years before they have to be sent to China. Zoos pay China for the privilege for housing the pandas. On average Zoos pay $1 million a year for mating pairs, $600,000 for a cub. In addition, caring for the pandas cost Zoo Atlanta $500,000 a year. This is five times more than what it cost to care for any other animal. As visitation to the Zoo drops, there is discussion of ending the Panda program in Atlanta over the next three years.
If you are interested in Pandanomics check out these articles
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0313_060313_pandas_2.html
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2014/01/18/pandanomics
Amanda SmithChina has been experiencing a museum boom since the government made museum growth apart of its five-year plans starting in 2010. The numbers are staggering with the country increasing the quantity of museums from 2,601 in 2009 to 4,164 in 2014. While private museums like the Jianchuan Museum are still rare, the government has been providing favorable real estate prices as well as greater curatorial freedom.
It has been reported that businessman Fan Jianchuan spent more than $188 million to construct his cluster of museums which spreads across 800 acres of land and contains over 8 million artifacts. I have attached an image of the plaque found at the entrance where Fan Jianchuan states his dual purposes of helping people remember the past as well as educating future generations through his collections.
The last line “relics of vicissitudes can speak” is very telling of the museums’ collection and curation process. Most of the museums focus on difficult events in China’s past with themes like the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, the Cultural Revolution, and World War II. For the most part the objects are left to speak for themselves with little explanation, leaving a lot of the interpretation up to the viewer. This approach has allowed the museum to cover topics like the Cultural Revolution, which is rarely mentioned in Chinese museums
The one place where the museum does show interpretation is in the design of each museum building. The look and feel of each building provides the backdrop for understanding the objects that are being displayed. That is why I was surprised to learn that the Anti-Japanese War museum was designed by a famous Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. However, Fan Jianchan is quoted in an article expressing his desire to attract large numbers of Japanese visitors to the museum. It appears that Jianchan’s desire to use war artifacts to promote peace goes beyond educating people in China.
The museum’s curation decision to display most of the collection seems strange to visitors who are used to museums only displaying a few significant artifacts. Collection management require museums to protect artifacts from damage that can be caused by long term exposer to heat and light, which can be challenging in a humid climate. I have seen the same types of concerns about the long-term care of artifacts while visiting museums in Southeast Asia and Cuba. However, the museum’s displays of seemingly endless numbers of Mao buttons, statues, and even clocks were powerful testimonies to the influence of propaganda.
I was particularly impressed by the fast actions taken to preserve artifacts for the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake museum. Collecting artifacts usually takes places many years after an event when the scope and quality of the artifacts are limited. Through Jianchan’s collection, visitors can see artifacts that depict how the tragedy affected different types of people. The display of bookbags was particularly heartbreaking as the visitor can’t help but picture the young owners.
I’m interested to hear what you thought about the Jianchan Museum or any of the other museums we visited on the trip.
clay dubeI want to thank Amanda for already posting some content to the Google Drive. She's got a couple things there that you'll want to see. They include a video of the guide at the Shung Ye Museum of Taiwan Aboriginals in Taipei on 2018.07.12. I hope that others will start posting content as well. She's also posted several photos (e.g., McDonalds in a high rise, Barbara and new fans) and a video of a panda high, high up. Definitely worth checking out.
I want to note that after you upload content to the drive, please then drag it to the appropriate folder. Only the person who uploads content can move it into a folder. Amanda has done this.
clay dubeI hope that some of you will write about the various museums we visited at the Jianchuan complex. Amanda's gotten us started.
Some of us visited the museum devoted to sent down youth. You folks and others may be interested in this new article on memorials and museums to sent down youth. https://apjjf.org/2018/14/Fiskesjo.html
clay dubeGuess which city made Brookings's list of top performing metropolitan areas?
All lazy pandas? Maybe not.
Amanda SmithI noticed a couple signs referencing Chengdu during my visit yesterday to the pandas at Zoo Atlanta. My favorite was a picture of the first Pandas arriving on a Panda jet.
By the way, for $145 (members)/ $160 (non-member) you can spend 15 minutes with the pandas. You don't even have to clean up their poop!
Cynthia LehrMy students tend to think of China as a far-away country with a labor market that, through factories, manufactures items we Americans stereotypically think of as cheap. They then think that the cheap products we buy are a representation of what the Chinese live with, what their economy is like, yet our visit to Chengdu proved this to be far from the case. First, their high-speed railway system is far ahead of what we have. Our ride from Xi’an to Chengdu was quite smooth. Our visit to the Hai Pa Wang Western Food Logistics Park taught us much about the transportation hub Chengdu is. Our host mentioned that Chengdu is a three-hour plane ride or less to anywhere else in the country. Our flight out of Chengdu allowed us to see some of the other Chinese airlines besides the majors we Americans of heard of; Chengdu Airlines and Sichuan Airlines, for example, are just two of the many Chinese airlines that exist for its large population. And if we want to compare technologies, we could consider some of the electronic décor of “downtown” Chengdu—among the large-screen, sometimes full-wall-of-a-building moving advertisements, there was an entire building (that said UR on it…) that sparkled gold. Seriously.
I try to reinforce that we’re all human; we simply develop different traditions. We can analyze the “One Belt, One Road” initiative and contrast it with current U.S. leadership policy that more often seems to be alienating, not embracing, its neighbors. There is this idea of needing to help one another while serving oneself--perhaps one of the markers of a "1st world country".
But while we’re on the topic of foreign relations, I am still intrigued about panda diplomacy, though it has been touched on a lot in this forum. Ahh, the symbolism! Pandas are so cute and cuddly—who wouldn’t want to embrace one! Although pandas are so conspicuous, certainly not blending in with the landscape, in wild they avoid humans so well. Interesting. I remember our Chengdu tour guide Allen (#... 2 or 3?) telling us about a group of scientists he took into the mountains because they wanted to try to spot a panda in the wild. They came across an older villager who admitted to having seen only one in 20 years… This is one of many interesting articles on panda diplomacy that mentions the ability to insert a cute fur-ball into a country with which China wants to build foreign relations, for whatever reason (positive or otherwise). Here we are, all human, but it takes animals to bring us together? And we thought we were on the top of the food chain! Food for thought. Pun intended.
I was impressed with the Jianchuan museum complex—it makes sense that, with as much land as it takes up, it is not in a more densely-populated area. I champion the creator wanting the Chinese to know all aspects of their history, not just “the winner’s side”. I found the museum about the 2008 earthquake especially tear-jerking, with the piles of school children’s book bags. This is comparable to the 9-11 attacks, as after each, there was reform to building codes. This isn’t something our students much think about, though my students and I live in hurricane territory, so it is relevant. Here is a website that featured parts of it we might not have seen, what with the time constraint.
Amanda SmithCynthia and I learned that it is a lot easier to feed pandas in Atlanta.