Cultural Excursion to 黄龙溪 (Huáng Lóng Xī)

The Entrance to 黄龙溪

These guys were cooking noodles. The guy in the left would throw the noodles into the water, and the guy in the right would stir.

This is a candy bird made right in front of my eyes.

We watched Sichuan Opera and even got a picture with a face-changing character.

Today 吴璨 had to go to school again, so after twenty laps around the playground, her parents/my host parents took me to 黄龙溪, an ancient village in Chengdu. I brought sunscreen just in case, but it turned out to be a very rainy day. Again, we hooked up with some other host families and explored the shops lining the street. There were many stands with food, including skewers of meat, ice cream, coconut milk, cakes of rice and flowers, and corn, and others with high-quality combs, ancient clothing, straw shoes, and candy. There were also many ladies walking around with crowns made of straw and real flowers. One of the host moms purchased the flower crowns for Chandler, Annette, and I. We explored a few shops with gorgeous 旗袍 and other traditional clothing. In one of the shops, we saw beautiful embroidery on fans and canvas. Once again, some of the host parents purchased these little embroidered charms with the Chinese character for good luck for Chandler, Annette, and I. As we continued on, we found a man making sugar art. He took a scalding hot sugary mixture and formed it into shapes based on what you spinned. The first time I spun it, the dial landed on a squash, and second time it landed on a tomato. The man, pitying my poor spinning abilities, made a gorgeous bird instead. For lunch, it was a bit of repetition to yesterday’s. We waited on the porch of the restaurant for a while and drank jasmine and buckwheat tea. Afterwards, we moved to a another table where we were served plate after plate after plate of food. Being thoroughly full, we sat around for a little while longer, and then headed back down the streets of 黄龙溪. The last place we went to was a mini opera house where we saw traditional Chinese art forms of dance, dress, and calligraphy. The last performance was a man who changed faces rather quickly. My host mom bought all three of us little dolls that change face like the man. It was one full, fun, and exhausting day. Forgot to mention, but today was the second time a random guy wanted to take a picture with me. This guy didn’t even ask. He just walked on over, put his arm around me, and took a picture. Again, a little weird.