On our last day in Chengdu, my traveling partner and I and a new friend checked out Renmin Park ("People's Park") in the northwest part of the city center.
Though the weather in Chengdu remained gray, cloudy and chilly for the duratin of our stay, Renmin Park was buzzing with life and warmth. It was Sunday afternoon, and everyone, it seemed, was determined to enjoy their day off.
Men were gathered on benches to play cards and Chinese chess. We passed booksellers and craftsmen hawking handmade bamboo birds. A live brass band performed in a pagoda, next to which a makeshift dancefloor was formed by first shy, then bolder couples who engaged in giggly ballroom dancing. At another pagoda, a hundred people had gathered to watch an older woman shriek traditional Chinese music (sorry, I'm not a fan of this genre), while in a plaza ten feet away, a man led a group of middle-age women in sort of a public display of aerobics and dance.
Amid all the activity was of course, street food. I became instantly mesmerized by a solitary woman, who was seated behind a small food cart topped with a plank of smooth white marble. Unlike most street vendors, she wasted no energy exhorting us to buy her wares. Her concentration on her craft was too great. And her product was too compelling to ignore.
Without looking up, she stuck the finished filigree food in the stand and began the next one.
She used ready-made pink hard candies for this peacock design.
After watching her for fifteen minutes and photographing her skill, I of course wanted to try one. Here's my phoenix candy, purchased for a bargain price of 3 yuan.
The taste? It was very similar to the sugary coating of bing tang hu lou. It's probably the same stuff.
The creations of this food vendor were so vibrant and lovely, not unlike the bustling life in Renmin Park on this Sunday afternoon in January. I wondered about how many of these residents would have enjoyed their Sundays as much 50 years ago. Their laughter and verve in celebrating so joyously now provided my answer.
Posted by Astrid at February 4, 2005 04:53 AM