I have been busy with exploring the city, bumbling my way around Mandarin, trying new foods, building relationships, watching pirated movies, and sleeping in.
Here are some pictures of our (I went to Jiangyou to visit Mark and Janice) Christmas exploits.
We found a mostly intact creche in a forgotten closet of the apartment. I tried to tuck this unfortunate 3rd king behind the Christmas tree...
Apparently during Christmas in Chengdu it is traditional for hordes of people to mob and fight in the city with blow-up bats (they often sport an American flag). However this mode of celebration has been banned as of this year due to the inherent dangers accompanying such a Yuletide riot. (Here's a blog with good pictures: Chengdu Christmas Tradition). Despite the new legislation this new Christmas tradition is too good to be forgotten!
Here are some neat things that we found while wondering the streets of Jiangyou:
Self-explanatory
poultry & produce!
Pretty colors
(pig? sheep?) hearts--the blood keeps them fresh!
Edible foliage
