China '06 Part II: "Of Walking Marriage and Novocaine Noodles"

During my first two-month stint in China, Josh and I traveled to numerous cities: Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Anyuan, Lushan, Guilin, Yangshuo, Kunming, Lijiang, Chengdu, Leshan, Xian, Beijing, Dalian, and others.

All were amazing ... all expanded my view and vision of the world ... but my heart will always belong to Chengdu.


And so, largely inspired by that wonderful city, I present Part II: "Of Walking Marriage and Novocaine Noodles" (Originally written June 5, 2006):

Good morning my loved ones and etc.,

As Josh and I were traveling on the sleeper train from Kunming to Chengdu (in the Sichuan Province), we decided to calculate the amount of time we will have spent traveling (via train, plane, automobile and bus) when this trip is said and done - it was an astounding figure. But before I tell you, go ahead and make some guesses. No, really, I'll wait (if you get within three hours, then you should treat yourself to a cookie, or some fried eel).

O.k., here it is ... after we land at SLC on Saturday, June 24, we will have been traveling for a total of 187 hours (not including all the inner city bus, taxi and subway traveling that we do). For those non-math geniuses out there, that's more than an entire week of traveling - 7.79 days to be exact. Fortunately, on each trip, we usually would have been sleeping for 8 hours anyway, so it's not as bad as it sounds. Plus, riding trains is a blast (especially when the other passengers try to teach you their convoluted card games - which are actually very fun).

Speaking of games, Josh and I learned how to play Ma-jiang the other day. It's actually surprisingly fun - kind of like rummy with little tiles instead of cards. At nearly every park in China in the evening, hundreds of little old aunties and uncles get together to play the game (either that or Chinese chess, which is also amazingly fun).

Because I don't have a ton of time today, this week's installment of Chinese culture corner will just be a hodge-podge conglomeration (does anyone know how to spell that correctly?) of a few interesting observations I've had and stories I've heard over the past week or so. Don't expect rhyme or reason, but their might be method to my madness.

Here in Sichuan, there is a minority people called the Mosuo. They live near a lake about eight hours north of Chengdu. The people have a custom which they call "Walking Marriage," which resembles actual marriage the same way a dung beetle resembles a dove. Basically, men or women will go to different houses, sleep with the person in that house and leave the next morning hoping that the female half of their equation is pregnant. No one gets married, and during their lifetime, each person will have sexual relations with dozens of different people. Basically, it's a system for creating bastard children and eliminating the family unit - hmmmm, seems questionable to me.*

Sichuan is known throughout China for their spicy foods. They have a special powder here which they add to their food that acts like novocaine, numbing the lips and mouth. It's not anything near as bad as going to the dentist (which I hear is what happens to people in the seventh circle of Chinese hell), and the slight numbing sensation actually feels kind of cool. The food here has been spectacular and, I must hasten to add, cheap.

Speaking of cheap is really synonymous with speaking of China. The country thrives on illegal books and DVD's that are sold in legitimate stores and malls in every city (the other thing common to all cities is a statue of Mao Zedong, the former head tyrant of China). The fake books and DVD's seem so much like the real ones, that it's nearly impossible to know which are which without seeing the price. Copyright infringment is rampant and the government does almost nothing to stop it - bad news for artists, good news for poor college students.

The family unit in China is very different than in the states. Despite the one child rule, once you get out of the major cities, most families actually have two or more children (especially in the rural areas). Extended family members in China are almost as close to each other as immediate family members are in the states. Children revere their parents and are expected to do everything they can to take care of them when they get older. Instead of old folk homes, grandparents will come and live with one of their children and continue to maintain an active lifestyle, going out into the shops and using some of the extremely strange exercise equipment they have in every park in China (the equipment seems like the result of a couple Chinese engineers looking at pictures of American exercise equipment, and then making something that looked similar but that had no functional value. I love these parks).


Well, my time is nearly up and Josh and I want to go check out a few places before meeting up with some expats we met at church the other day (they're taking us out for Sichuan hot pot, which is supposed to be liquid fire). I hope you are all having a great summer. Drop me a line if you get a moment and let me know what's going on in your life (or lack thereof).

Lots of love from the giant American panda,

Matt

P.S. If all ya'll have any questions about this place, let me know and I'll either find the answer, or make something up.

* NOTE: As with most things in life, the idea of a "walking marriage" is far less black and white than my 24-year-old-self realized. I cannot be the one to judge a people so unique as the Mosuo ... nor should I.