Chengdu in slow motion

It is a difficult job even for me as an indigenous Chengdu resident to sum up the spirit of this city in one word.

I might as well provide an example: If three people—one from northeast China, the other from Shanghai and the third from Chengdu—were given a 10-yuan note, how would they spend it? It is an easy guess. The person from northeast China, as people from that region are known for their hospitality, would probably treat himself and his friends to a nice meal. The Shanghainese would be more money conscious as most Shanghai people are, and readily put eight yuan in the bank and leave only two yuan for daily expenses. The Chengdu citizen would be a totally different matter. He would spend two yuan for a round of tea, three yuan feasting on various snacks and five yuan playing mah-jongg or another leisurely pastime.

Although this is not valid in all cases, it is enough to prove Chengdu people's zest for life and their satisfaction with simply living it.

Playing mah-jongg and having tea are the two main hobbies of Chengdu people. You can easily find a place for a game of mah-jongg in a teahouse, a culture center or public area in a living community anywhere in the city.

But they don't see playing the game as gambling; they see it as a way of bonding with family and friends. On weekends and holidays, people will bring a mah-jongg set and play in the open air during their excursions to the suburbs. By the riverside or at foothills, clusters of people sit around a table shielded by a sun umbrella playing mah-jongg. It is surely an interesting sight to watch.

Teahouses are as common as newspaper stands in Chengdu. The city has a reputation for a slow-paced quality of life, which is essentially displayed through its culture of tea drinking. Reclining in a wooden chair in a guesthouse yard surrounded by lush green plants and sipping a cup of spring tea is what out-of-towners envy the most about life in Chengdu.

In addition, Chengdu people's enthusiasm for good food, or more precisely, spicy food, is beyond words. Sichuan cuisine is the most famous among China's four major styles of cooking. But don't get the wrong idea that only star-rated restaurants offer the best dishes. The snack bars lining narrow lanes in downtown streets in Chengdu are also worth exploring. Not only are their offerings inexpensive, but also the various snacks are delightful to taste.

I will save my compliments on the abundant natural tourism resources in and around Chengdu, because you would not be able to appreciate them unless you saw them with your own eyes. But I do feel the need to mention that Sichuan Province is the home of giant pandas, which in my opinion are not only cute, but also greatly wise because they have chosen the best place to live.