Chengdu Nights!
I met with Teresa yesterday at 3:30 to go to the office to sign the contract. Like all streets in China, Chengdu is filled with weaving traffic but the drivers here seem more polite. In Datong and even Beijing drivers are constantly on the horn which isn’t as true here. We got to the 10th floor office and were finished in about 15 minutes. Teresa asked me if I would like to join her and her girlfriend in playing cards. I have seen this crazy Chinese card game and despite having no idea how to play I first told her that she did not have to entertain me but that I’d be willing to try.
We took off to the Good Wood Coffee House. You really can’t make this up. It appears to be a chain as I’ve seen others. We met Helen and Mr. Yuan which as far as I can tell means Mr. Money. The money here is referred to as kwy, RMB and it is all marked with yuan as the unit of measure. I watched the three of them play without immediately grasping it. It mattered not to Teresa as the next hand I was in while she helped me. I won. Then I won again. I won three straight. Too bad I had no idea what I was doing. I even told Teresa it was like she was getting to play with a designated card holder/sorter. Pretty soon money was on the table and my winning ways came to an end. The game is called Landlord and Tenants or something like that and Teresa mentioned it can be played on the internet so I’ll have to improve my comprehension and maybe my skills.
After more than an hour of this it was decided we would go eat. They asked me if I liked hot pot to which I replied I did. Ping took Jed and I to a place in Datong where the pot was split in half with a spicy side and a mild side and you got to throw in whatever you wanted; mushrooms, kale, beef, pork, etc to cook on a sunken gas flame right at your table. Yeah. Not in Sichuan. The pot was all hot without a ‘mild’ side and even looked a bit intimidating with so many floating red peppers. Mr. Yuan began order bottle after bottle of pijiou and toasting me in particular but also everyone with alarming frequency. I had already had two at the Good Wood. Hehe. Good Wood. We had so much food and I tried everything, the stomach, the intestines, all of it. As much as I enjoyed it last night my body is telling me today to slow it down. You know how sometimes when you eat spicy food it can give you odd or upsetting dreams? Yeah, me too.
After we finished dinner we decided to go to a disco. Teresa and I waited for Helen to go change by shopping. I bought the DVD’s Home on the Range, Friday Night Lights, Shall We Dance?, Saved!, and Dawn of the Dead all for 35RMB. Crazy. We then waited for a bit but since Teresa was unable to reach Helen on her cell phone she figured they would just meet us there and we left. Now Datong is a small city of 2.6 million with only two discos so it is nearly a battle for room on the dance floor but Chengdu at 11.3 million has many more and the discos are still full but not as horribly packed as in Datong. I meant to get a picture of the Coors Light Girls who were promoting Coors Light with a Halloween twist. Teresa bought a dozen Coors Lights for 200RMB. Even if it is Coors Light it is a heck of a deal to get all those beers at a club for <26USD. I taught them how to play the dice game 1-4/24 and since we weren’t playing for money they all took the initiative of taking a drink if they loss. Hadn’t really seen it as a drinking game before but whatever. The ladies and I danced for a while on the over smoke-effected dance floor and had a great time. We had arrived just before 9pm so by midnight we were ready to call it a night. By then Mr. Yuan had left with Helen shortly behind him. When you leave a bar you can take your beer with you whether you have opened it or not. Teresa gave me a ride back to the Traffic Hotel where I am staying. I have been invited to go to a temple today. I don’t know if it is for worship or just a tourist visit but Teresa indicated her and Helen were going and that I am welcome to come along.
I got in and watched the first hour of Shall We Dance? before I had to sleep. I am pretty thrilled and grabbing a pile of movies as I leave Monday for the small 1.5 million Santai.