Our second visit was in another district of the city. Our former student came to the city from the place she now lives, and arranged accommodations for herself and us in the home of one of her cousins. We arrived by taxi, accompanied by the first student. After introductions and settling in, we got on a bus and went to another cousin’s home for the rest of the day. The women of the group prepared a feast. We were much welcomed, but no one besides our student spoke any English, and she did not interpret much. I wanted to watch and participate in the kitchen, but I saw that they weren’t comfortable with that. I have learned that there are two answers for questions about vegetables: “green vegetable” and “I don’t know the English name.” Everything in China is cooked, including lettuces of all kinds.
Our student referred to her cousins as “sisters” and their husbands as “brothers” even though we explained the standard English usage to her. It’s common in China to use these English terms regardless of their meaning. These young women, daughters of three sisters, provided well for us. In the afternoon, we went to a sort of amusement park, and the following day to Chongqing Garden Expo. On that day we were joined by a younger cousin. It was fun to see “the girls” enjoy themselves.
Of the twenty three districts in Chongqing city, we probably saw at least fifteen, ranging from poverty through extreme wealth. Our hosts lived in the middle ranges. In the street markets we saw something new to us and asked what it was. It looked like it might be stacks of very thin flat noodles, was it food? It also looked like paper accordion pleated and bound in stacks, was it a game of some sort? No, it was spirit money. On the second day of the new year, people visit the graves of their ancestors and, among other rituals, burn this money so that the ancestors “have money to spend in hell,” as our student put it.
On the third day, our student accompanied us on the two hour bus journey to another city to meet our final host.