Anren: Badges, Seals, and Clocks

The Jianchuan museum cluster in Anren has ten (or more) museums. Jianchuan is the name of the founder, one of the modern Chinese robber barons. Most of the museums glorify the modern history and military of China. I didn't really expect to be impressed, but found a few of the displays fascinating and the buildings really well done. They are a rare look at how modern Chinese see themselves.

Hundreds of clocks covered with slogans and propaganda are displayed in the Clocks hall. Some are running and fill the space with ticks and chimes.

Anren: Western Sichuan Folk Museum

Shaking off the writing block on this blog to post my visit to Anren, which is a museum town about an hour out of the city. This year the tourism bureau is issuing panda cards which will get you free admission to many sights in the province so I wanted to make the rounds while I still could. The first museum I stumbled into was the free West Sichuan folk Musuem. I loved the buildings.

The descriptions were quite critical of the feudal and patriarchal customs being depicted. Bridal chair:

Women's Day

International Women's day is always a big deal in China - you just say 3/8 and everyone knows what you are talking about. There seems to have been much more of a fuss made about Women's Day than usual this year, perhaps because it is very close to another, more troubling anniversary. (I am avoiding the Tib*tan area of town this week.) Most schools and communities will have some kind of activity and several stores and restaurants have deals for women or women's products. I forgot about going out to take advantage of drink specials until too late last night. Ah well, there is always next year!

Lantern Day

The last day of winter holiday is Lantern Day. The fireworks are nearly as intense as they are on the first.



The lanterns were quite interesting, with designs, pictures, or calligraphy on the sides.



The old area of Jinli Street was packed with people, even though there was a cover charge to get in.

Went back..

The one place visitors have to see when they visit.



Peacocks; I didn't see any females or babies this time. Wrong time of year maybe.



When I'd been before there was nobody in the nursery, but there were a few this time. They were a treat to watch.

Farmer Happy

A student once mentioned visiting and eating at 'farmer happy', and I was completely puzzled. What he meant was a nong jia le, or guest farm. These are places in the country where people go to relax and experience rural life, and they are very in vogue in Sichuan where they first started out. People like to go out in the morning, eat simply prepared organic food for lunch, and then drink tea and play ma jiang or cards during the day. Many nong jia le have other activities like karaoke, ping pong, horseback riding, fishing, or picking flowers and fruit. They are often the venue of choice for class reunions and corporate functions too. I am fascinated with nong jia le, not the least because I can find so little information about them in English, and also because there are hundreds of them around the city. I've written about San Sheng Xiang (Flower Town) before but only got to see a small part of it, and today visited a different area.

Camera shy waterfowl:



Fish pond:



The bird park is almost like a petting zoo. It costs one yuan to get in, and five yuan for a handful of corn to feed the birds. You can have peacocks and pheasants eating out of your hand. It seems like a pretty glamourous kind of farm life, with peacocks and black swans mingling with the ducks, chickens, and pigs.



These birds called out, "ni hao, ni hao" (hello, hello) as we walked by.



This fellow was in the bird pen.



We realized his fate when we noticed this poster outside a restaurant, detailing the benefits and flavours of different parts of a deer.

Down by the Big Boat

'The big boat' is one of the more recognizable landmarks in town. It's actually a building that houses a couple of restaurants.



There is a newly developed walking street/recreation area with many late night restaurants and bars.The town is starting to put on its holiday finery for the coming Spring Festival.