The city of Chengdu (Sichuan) has inhaled and exhaled us several times in the last few weeks. We were blown out to our various teaching sites, some of us 33 hours away by train, sucked back to Chengdu for one last intensive week of language training and testing, and we're about to be spit back out to our teaching sites. But, before we leave Chengdu, we will re-congregate in a hotel on the campus of Sichuan Daxue for three days of meetings and a graduation of sorts--graduation from "Pre-Service Trainee" to "Peace Corps Volunteer." Joining us for our swearing in as "PCVs" will be our new waibans and university teaching counterparts, who will then make the long trek back with us to wherever we are going. Chengdu will continue to breathe us in and out--we have not seen the last of Peace Corps headquarters or the land of Pandas.
Chongqing, not unlike St. Louis, is at the intersection of two mighty rivers. Here you can see the green Jialing River hitting the muddy brown Yangtze (known here as the Chang Jiang) with downtown Chongqing cityscape all around--behind me and on both sides of both rivers. (Chongqing is a big city within the larger state-like municipality of Chongqing.)
Don't let the skyline fool you: Chongqing, a city of mountains, has plenty of pockets of natural beauty tucked away, and Chongqing the larger municipality is green and lush. Forty-five minutes north by bus, following along the Jialing, is my college town of a half-million, Beibei, and Jin Yun Mountain (among many other mountains).
Our merry little party made it to the top of Jin Yun Shan, and, in the picture below, you might be able to make out the Beibei skyscrapers far beneath the mountain. (You can see them in the original photo.)
In the picture above, nestled in the trees to the left, is an ancient Buddhist monastery, which you can see much better in the photo below.
Before closing, I want to send belated birthday wishes to my dear, dear Benji and to a cluster of good friends--Ann, Miriam, Marilyn, Wendy, Arax, Jim, and my PCV friend Martha! Zhu ni shengri kuaile! And I have a Chinese question for friend Robert: Knee how? Hope surgery went well.
Dearest Jing,
ReplyDeleteMy computer has been in the repair shop for a while and I have fallen behind in tracking your great adventure, but now am all caught up with your marvelous blog. You are amazing!
I sent in a deposit for an as-yet-not-fully-defined trip to China in October 2013. The itinerary is still in flux partly because access to Tibet by tourists has changed. I told my travel planner that I would like to make a stop in Chongquing (now Beibei), and when we get to locking down the itinerary next spring, hopefully you'll be able to advise where a good place for us to stay might be -- and how long a visit will make sense given your teaching schedule, etc.
...or if you think another spot would make more sense for a rendezvous, we will take your advice. We have plenty of time to work out details.
Much love, Ted
Happy Graduation and best wishes on your continued journey.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad that I don’t have to buy other adventure travel books anymore – I just wait for your next installment.
Have fun.
Love,
Jonathan