Tuesday, May 15, 2018
As our third day in Chengdu, and our second day having classes, I think we're all starting to find a routine that works for each and every one of us. Every morning, we all wake up pretty early for our 8:30 classes, especially if we want to eat the free breakfast at the cafeteria right by our dorms at Sichuan University. After a morning full of struggling through Chinese language class, we had a two-hour lunch break and I went with Winnie and Isaac as we explored one of the off-campus areas to find a place to eat. While I had a plate of rice, I have to give props to Winnie for eating 炸酱面every day since we've arrived in Chengdu. We also decided to stop and get some drinks (bubble tea and a fruit drink) since the store was having a deal, and this was one of the fanciest bubble tea drinks we've ever seen!
In the afternoon we made our way to the Chengdu Planning Exhibition Hall. I've never been to a planning hall before, so everything in here was new to me! The symbol of this particular hall has 12 flames in the symbol, which represent 12 months of the year, the four fairy birds on the outside represent the four seasons, and the center is a hope for a prosperous year. There were several wonderful models located in the hall, which is great for visual learners and people still learning Chinese! There was a model in bronze located on the second floor, which showed the layout of Chengdu during the Qing Dynasty. Within the walls showed three separate cities, similar to the layout of the Forbidden City. It's amazing to see Chinese cities with their long and storied histories, in comparison to American cities as America is still a fairly new nation. In addition to a long and varied history lesson, the Exhibition Hall also demonstrates Chengdu's next steps to becoming a more modern and environmentally sustainable city. President Xi Jinping actually visited Sichuan last year as a part of the 19th CPC National Congress and gave many remarks on how Chengdu should be used as a model but also as how Chengdu can improve in the future. One of the most incredible options was adding greenery to the city and making the city into a sustainable place while not stifling development and providing stability to its citizens. What's also interesting is how Chengdu chooses to expand its borders in a given geographical location, as future development demonstrates that Chengdu wants to use the 龙泉山(Long Quan Mountains) as the middle of the city, rather than to the east of the city as in the past. They intend to have two wings of the city, with the central (existing) city located on the west, and the new town to the east. This idea is extremely creative, as it provides a viable solution for Chengdu's population problem while also providing other places for businesses and citizens to relocate if necessary.
Afterwards, we visited a silicone company called 硅宝 (Gui Bao) which produces silicone sealants for various purposes. This particular location happens to be硅宝's headquarters, and it is not only listed on the Shenzhen stock market, but their sealant was also used on the Beijing Olympics' Birds Nest structure. In addition, it seems as though they have multiple locations in the United States as well. While their products are used for adhesion of materials such as stone or glass, they are also testing an organic silicone tire that may be released in the next five years if testing is passed. With such an important product, 硅宝 has invested quite a lot of money into its production line. Not only is their production line efficient, it only needs four people to operate, and has lower energy consumption. As such, it's easy to understand why this company is doing so well in China.
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