Sunday, May 20, 2018
It's our second Sunday here in Chengdu and classes along with homework are in full swing. Today was a free day for us to explore Chengdu and catch up/get ahead with homework for the coming week since we have already had many exciting activities on the agenda!
Since we only have a few opportunities to sleep in, Eliot and I took advantage and got up late to grab some breakfast/lunch at our favorite local food cart. This spot is just a 5 min walk from our dorms and I won't deny that I've grabbed at least one meal a day from there each day this week… It's operated by this sweet lady who (besides gives me extra fillings for free) makes authentic Sichuan snacks, specifically Jianbing and Rou Jia Mo. The best way to describe Jianbing would be to say it's the Chinese version of an Indian Dosa (a thin outer dough cooked fresh on a skillet- with a vegetable/and or meat filling), while the Rou Jia Mo can be best described as a pita bread pocket with a pork and vegetable filling.
After a quick bite, we then used OFO to bike over to Starbucks to prepare for our second weekly discussion meeting. To be honest, good coffee is a hard thing to find in China, but you'll always be able to trust in Starbucks to be there for your quick fix and free Wi-Fi. On our way back, we decided to try out a new local spot that specializes in Chaofan, or mixed fried rice. The thing I found particularly unique in these types of stir fry spots is that they allow you to pick out your own meat and vegetables. They offer about 10-15 different types of raw meats, marinated in varying seasonings and then mix it all together for about $2 or 15 Yuan. For those with dietary restrictions, this is definitely a good place to get a hearty meal.
Around 7 pm, we all congregated in a conference room in our dormitory to have our second weekly discussion meeting. This week, the topics on the agenda were about our trip to the Chengdu Planning and Exhibition Hall, GuiBao (a large private Chinese silicone manufacturer), and Early Rain Church. We further discussed topics involving the feasibility of Chengdu's rapid development plan as well as potential effects they may induce. We compared state-owned enterprises versus privately held companies and their effect on economic growth. And ended our discussion with Early Rain Church. In China, religions (the most significant Christianity) are under scrutiny by the government. Consequently, we further discussed our views and analyzed the government's responses as well as the status quo of these home churches. It's really engaging and productive to discuss and compare our personal thoughts and insights on an open forum. Additionally, given the sensitivity of this week's topics - it ended up being a lot deeper of a discussion than last week.
Now that week 2 has come to an end, time seems to be flying by…excited to see what this next week has in store for us!
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