Andelu’s Rants from Shenzhen

Finally after cancelling two or three times, Pei Lin and I were able to make our way to his hometown in Sichuan province last weekend. We met in Chengdu, him arriving from Shenzhen and I flew in from Shanghai. Friday night we stayed in Chengdu and went to dinner with 3 of his high school classmates who now live in Chengdu. Early Saturday morning we got up and took the bus 3 hours to Guang An and then a taxi another 45 minutes to his home village of Ping Tan.

We strolled through the village, buying some fruit as a gift for his aunt. Some snacks for his sister and us later and then sat around talking. Pei Lin always refers to his hometown as a city, but I would call it a village. In the US we refer to small rural villages as a one stop sign town, this would fit that description. I was the first foreigner to ever visit Ping Tan and everyone stopped to look and it was fun to see the looks of surprise and intrigue on their face.

Dinner was a family affair with several of Pei Lin’s aunts and uncles coming to his parents house for dinner. About 20 people in all. At first all the men sat and were served, about 10 delicious smelling dishes. There wasn’t anything I was leery about eating and they were all awesome! Surprisingly, there were not too spicy. Sichuan is known for its spicy food but these were just right. Each of the male family members toasted me a glass of rice wine and I was glad there were only 6 of them! Pei Lin doesn’t drink much and he had to endure the same ritual so I felt for him. After the men ate the women and children came to our table with bowls of rice and served themselves from the dishes on our table.

After dinner we sat around and talked, with Pei Lin doing the translating. I understand some of the Sichuan dialect, but my Chinese is pretty p0or so didn’t do too much talking on my own. Maybe a combination of being shy and just wanting to observe. Pei Lin’s grandma is 84 and doesn’t speak Mandarin, only the local dialect. She mostly sat and observed everyone else but sometimes would have what looked like a few words of wisdom to share.

I am not sure what the actual temperature was but it was cold. Even though I wasn’t tired I wasn’t particularly looking forward to going to bed.Pei Lin’s bedroom was on the 3rd floor and we headed that way to make our way to bed. After comparing the temperature in his room and another room with a big bed we decided to sleep in his room, in his old twin bed. It was small but comfortable. After I got under the covers fully clothed his mom and sister came and sat on the bed and we all talked for a little while. Rather, the three of them talked and I listened intently with no idea what was being discussed. After a bit his mom went and got a few additional blankets and tucked me in with a smile. A little while later Pei Lin joined me and we snuggled close buried under a foot of blankets.

The next morning we woke nice and warm. Sometime during the night I must have gotten warm because I had shed my 3 t-shirts, shirt and sweater. Getting out of a warm bed and stepping into a walk in freezer will wake you up. Breakfast was served and the conversation turned to where Pei Lin slept. He told his parents we slept in his little bed together and they suggested next time we sleep in the bigger bed if we want to sleep together…

An invitation was extended for me to visit during the Spring Festival - Chinese New Year. Am already looking forward to experiencing my first traditional Spring Festival. Now what to wear for warmth…