The Dazu Buddhist Caves - An Epic Day-Trip

Lucia and I had been hearing a lot about these Dazu caves. Lonely Planet writes about them, lots of the China travel blogs I've read mentions them, and they are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So, we figured, it was worth a trip, only two hours outside Chongqing.

The Dazu Caves actually refer to all the caves within Dazu County, about 75 locations comprising over 50,000 statues. So specifically, we were headed to the Baodingshan cave carvings. According to the tourist information at the site, the cave carvings were built under the supervision of Zhao Zhifeng, between 1174 and 1252, AD. (I'm quite certain this is the oldest thing we've seen in China so far.)

The caves were absolutely incredible, and definitely worth the journey. But before I go further about the caves, I'm going to give a quick sidebar about the trip required to get to the caves.

Lunchtime Adventures

Anyone who knows me as American Chelsea knows that I'm a vegetarian, have been for nearly two decades, and generally steer clear of food that has shared frying pans, utensils, cooking broth, etc. with meaty things. An exclamation I heard often in my household growing up was "I didn't use the same spoon for yours, don't worry!" I think I've gotten better / less neurotic about it over the years, but this is truly a test of my limits.

Our organization generously provides stored-value cards for a restaurant near our office so we don't have to pay for lunch. This restaurant is a fast-paced, loud, noodle-slinging cafeteria-style joint. The menu is entirely in Chinese, no English or even pinyin. We've had a colleague translate the menu for us but even this is only marginally helpful (though he has made an effort to identify vegetarian-friendly food!).

News Roundup

I've been reading a lot of thought-provoking articles about Chongqing and China. I thought I'd post some of them here, for your reading enjoyment and also to have the links handy if I ever need to find the articles again. (Some of these are NY Times and Foreign Policy links - registration/logging in with social media may be required.)

This one is about a bombing in the Beijing Airport this past weekend. It was a very small incident, and no one was killed. But the history behind the incident is tragic, particularly in light of this article about very recent police brutality against illegal vendors.

On to tragedies of a different sort, here is some coverage of the earthquake that hit northwest China this morning. And earlier this month, there was tons of coverage about all the flooding in Chengdu, very close to Chongqing. Here's an article and some photos from Huffington Post.

For something less tragic, check out this incredible New York Times spot on the "New Silk Road" - documents the opening of the railroad west through China to the EU. This is one of a number of articles about the "rise of the West" and how important this region is becoming for manufacturing.

Finally, here are a couple older articles about the local and infamous ex-politician, Bo Xilai. This one is about how he directed the growth of Chongqing to become a critical city in China. This one is about how much he loved gingko trees and the long-term damage that it might cause. (For more information about the rise and fall of Bo Xilai, check out the wiki article, and don't feel bad - I had no idea who he was 4 weeks ago.)

ChaoTianMen, an Evening Boat Ride, and Chongqing's Cable Car

This weekend, our friend and classmate, Carlos, visited Lucia and I here in Chongqing. He's living in Chengdu for the summer, working at the Chengdu Institute of Urban Planning and Design. Chongqing and Chengdu are very close cities, and Lucia and I plan to return the visit in a couple of weeks. Having a guest gave us a chance to show off Chongqing, to see some of the tourist attractions we haven't been to yet, and to trade stories about living in central China as a foreigner.

On Saturday, we visited the Chongqing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. They had some pretty neat scale models of the city and the region, but I won't bore you with more photos of tiny buildings. If you really want to see them, feel free to email me and I'll send them your way.

The Exhibition Hall is right under the plaza at ChaoTianMen, which is the tip of the peninsula that makes up the Yuzhong District (downtown) of Chongqing.

China's Love Affair with Scale Models

One thing I have noticed in the few weeks since I've been here: China loves scale models.

I'm a complete sucker for these intricate displays, a reaction that probably could have been predicted by my obsession with miniatures as a child (and as a young adult...and in my 20s...Have you ever been to the Art Institute of Chicago's Thorne Miniature Rooms? They're incredible! But I digress.).

Anyway, I posted some pictures already from the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, and we will be visiting the Chongqing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall this weekend, but in the mean time (in case anyone else has hidden obsessions with miniatures), I'll post a few photos of two of the private scale models we've seen. These seem to be a favorite tool for real estate developers, to demonstrate what their project will look like and sell space.

Week 1 in Chongqing

The city I'll call home for the next 8 weeks is quite a bit different from Shanghai.

For one, it's hotter. Topping out in the upper 90s each day, with major humidity, I'm reminded of the hottest weeks in Chicago, except this is never-ending. I got truly spoiled in one short year with the LA weather, and by the time I acclimate to this weather, it may be time head back to the States.

There are some fascinating articles out there about Chongqing, some of which I've already linked in previous posts. Here is another great one in the NY Times, brought to my attention by my roommate/classmate/co-intern/friend Lucia. This article, in particular, captures some of the vibe I've been feeling here as a Westerner in a city with very, very few Westerners.

Part 2: International Association of China Planning Conference

During my stay in Shanghai, I attended the International Association of China Planning Annual Conference. This year the topic was "Building Resilient Cities" -- something I've been doing some research on at UCLA this past year. The conference was equal parts awkward and awesome, as I didn't know any other people there and most of the attendees were not native English speakers. I'm never super comfortable injecting myself into conversations with strangers; at the conference I was even more reticent to do so since the language barrier was potentially so high.

But, I made it through. Some of the sessions were very interesting, discussing the fallout from the big 2008 earthquake in Sichuan and how the country has rapidly rebuilt. It was particularly interesting starting off my summer in a community of academics, both American and Chinese (and a few Europeans), who feel pretty comfortable being critical of the way planning is happening in China. I have only been at my internship in Chongqing a few days (more on that, to come) and already I think the attitude is quite different. This cultural divide between academics and practitioners exists in the US, as well.