Don't Try to Get Anywhere

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On Monday, Sara(h) and I tried to find the Sichuan Art Gallery. I had the name of it in characters and the address in pinyin, both of which I gave to the driver. He had no clue though. He called people and slowed up next to fellow taxis to yell at them through the window. We arrived at a place enclosed by a white wall with red characters. The taxi driver stopped and called a few more people, then tried to tell/ask me something in Chinese that I did not understand. But he kept repeating it. Eventually we got out.

Across the street we found an art supply store that sold western supplies. Sara(h) got the soft pastels she has been looking for. I got colored pens with teeny tips. We also went into a music store. The man working there told us that the art gallery is under construction. They are replacing the building, which is why we couldn't get there.

We walked some more and found "Asian Fast Food Good Nutrition" and decided to eat lunch there. It was really good and nutritious. I had white rice, chicken with tomatoes, soup, pickled veggies, and cucumbers. All for 13 kuai. It was kind of like a bento box.

We passed a whole bunch of costume shops that looked like they cater to cultural performance type things, like the opera.

Eventually we got on a bus that went to a place called dongmen. East gate. That is where we live on the university campus, so I thought that was right. Three stops later, we reached that stop and it was not our university. But we kept riding.

On the bus there was an old guy with a blue, short-sleeved, collared shirt and a red band with characters around his arm. A guard or cadre of some sort. He kept trying to talk to us, saying "Chengdu Welcomes You" and "Chengdu Ku!" He switched seats three or four times, sitting in front of us, behind us, in the front of the bus. Strange.

We rode for a while, did not recognize anything, and eventually decided to get off. We caught a taxi. The trip back ended up costing 36 kuai, which is the most I have ever paid for a taxi ride in China. We had been on the complete opposite side of the city. I was frustrated, because even on the other side of the city there are the same stores over and over again. It is impossible to tell the difference. Although, we did pass some museums and parks that I might want to check out.


A similar thing happened to Clare, Audrey, Maria and I on Wednesday. We went out to lunch and decided to look for a foreign language bookstore. But the bookstore was not at the address we had. So we got into a taxi to go to a different bookstore. However, this driver could not find it. He dropped us off in Chunxi Lu, which has been really crowded this week due to the holiday. Audrey and I used the restroom at Dico's, Chinese version of KFC. We went into the mall and tried to find a movie theater. I bought an iced coffee at a little store that sold gamer action figures, and stuffed animals, and had a make-your-own-cell phone charm station.

It took three Chinese people to make an iced coffee, twenty minutes. They were running all over the place, and it ended up in a thermal cup with a bendy straw. Hilarious. It was good coffee too.

We couldn't find a movie theater, so we got on the 335 bus to come back to the dorm. But it was going in the wrong direction. We were on the highway for a while. We wound up in the suburbs. The bus stopped and everyone got off, so we knew that it was the last stop. At this point, we were all tired and laughing and taking pictures. Everyone was staring at us. An empty taxi drove past and we flagged it down.

I did not recognize anything for a long time on the ride back. We found a lot of places that we would love to go, such as a much nicer Trustmart and a fancy shopping area. But who knows if we will be able to get back there.

This taxi ride was only 32. So I guess we weren't that far away.

I've decided not to care too much anymore whether I get where I am meaning to go. Sometimes it is more fun to get lost.

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