28 March 2013
No panda photos
Tonight there are absolutely no panda photos.
Theres not many photos at all.
I went to Sha Ping Ba, one of the other city centres, which is a labyrinth of pedestrian streets on a slope.
Its dirtier and older looking than the area in which I am staying, lots more people selling stuff on the ground, small dogs charging about, underground malls filled with shops no bigger than a phone box and no Gucci or Cartier to be seen.
Its a good 12 stops on the subway, so too far to walk even for me. The highlight of the subway ride was the impromptu study group that set up on the floor with their books, pen, paper etc. I got the impression that they do this every day.
My activity for the evening was the staring game. People stare at me, I stare back, HARD. I am yet to lose at this game. Generally it makes people who stare realise what they were doing and feel self concious about it. The best way to let someone know you are staring back is to slowly push your face forward from your shoulders and tilt your head on a slight angle.
A less fun game is the store music recognition challenge. Many stores have what sounds like hold music from a phone system from 1984. Usually this is greensleeves, fur elise, ode to joy or that one about the bells of something something (which mcdonalds ice cream and tea drink sub stores use, China mcdonalds has more than just burger shops).
However the overall winner, by a landslide, and used by nearly every shop on permanent loop, GANGNAM STYLE!
The Sha Ping Ba pedestrian areas claim to fame is that they have re created the three gorges damn system, up the middle of the mall. The three gorges damn (I am just going to keep typing damn instead of dam out of habit) is just down river from here, with most cruises through it departing from here.
My dinner was 5 chillis on the menu. Most things only had 1. It was bright red in the picture. I think I got round eyed because it was more like 1 or 2 chillis.
The streets are littered with people trying to sell stuff which its hard to imagine anyone would want.
If you owned a legitimate store whos entrance is now blocked by these people, you would be annoyed. They leave me alone though, only hassling locals to buy a pair of spongebob squarepants 'quallity' ear buds for 20 cents.
The square / line dancing is so popular you might just need to book.
Due to my lack of photos, bonus photo of tonights snack. It is like a sesame crisp, only much thinner and lighter due to being full of holes.
Of course I ate the entire jar of them in one go. They are more savoury than a similar thing would be in Australia, most things are.