Brian and Lindsey Young, who taught in Patagonia last year, have a two-year contract to teach in Chengdu China. Brian is teaching middle and high school social studies and AP history and Lindsey is teaching 5th grade. They both teach at the International School of Chengdu where their children Emma and Liam attend. After living in China for two years, the Youngs plan on returning to Southern Arizona.
Chengdu, China is a city most Americans have never heard of, despite it being an economic powerhouse on the global stage. It is a city of 14 million and is growing at a pace of a half-million new residents per year. To accommodate the influx of new residents, there is a massive building boom. There are literally hundreds of new high-rise apartments being built right now. The air is filled with dust, smog and the sounds of jack hammers and heavy equipment constantly building and building. On the chaotic streets, rickshaws, bicycles, and scooters dart between and around buses and luxury sports cars, a sign of the city’s increasing wealth. Chengdu is a fascinating blend of old and new, east and west, rich and poor.
Where does our family fit into this sprawling metropolis? We live in an apartment complex made up of 70 apartment buildings each 32 stories tall. We live on the 13th floor. Our apartment is quite roomy, with 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. In our apartment it feels like we could be in America, but once outside our apartment, you quickly realize you’re not in Patagonia anymore.
We can’t blend into any crowd here. We are foreigners and that can be enough to draw a crowd of interested locals with cameras in hand, who—using hand signs and very limited English—will ask us if they can pose for a picture with us. At times however, it is we who are photographing unfamiliar things. We take pictures of groups of people doing tai chi in a park, or men sitting on wooden crates playing mahjong and smoking cigarettes, or an older woman riding a three-wheeled bicycle packed 8 feet high with cardboard she collects and then sells.
The influence of Western culture is strong in Chengdu. Starbucks are everywhere. There are McDonalds, Pizza Hut and now the first Burger King in western China. Clothing that features the US and British flags is considered stylish, and T-shirt logos are in English—not Chinese. This leads to some funny sights, like a grandmother in her eighties, sporting a Tupac Shakur T-shirt that says “Thug Life”.
The West is definitely here, but Chinese cultural influence is still strong. Hole-in-the-wall restaurants serving spicy Sechuan food are everywhere. Babies don’t wear diapers, they wear split bottom pants and when nature calls, the children just go, wherever they may be, on the floor of the store, sidewalk or road, even off a balcony! Ping-Pong is huge here. Recently we had the intimidating experience of playing Ping-Pong while 30 Chinese people (who are probably expert players) watched and were clearly amused.
What you won’t see in Chengdu? With the city under an eternal blanket of smog you will not see the sun, the moon, stars, blue skies or planes in the sky. In fact, there has only been one night in the almost three months we have been here, when we could see some stars.
In future articles, we hope to share some adventures we have already had and some we have yet to experience during the next year and a half.