Chengde

What to do on Laba? Today, I ate dumplings, climbed a mountain, and pickled Laba garlic. The mountain was named “Sengguan” (Monk’s Cap) by Emperor Qianlong. Although it doesn’t look like a cap from afar, with the name in mind, it somewhat resembles one. The path up the mountain was quite wild, but fortunately, there were enthusiastic locals to guide us. We fumbled our way up to a fire access road halfway up the mountain (which was essentially just a flatter dirt road that cars could drive on). Along the way, I chatted with my grandpa on and off, and bickered with my younger brother on and off. It’s truly amazing that I didn’t drink a single sip of water during this process. ...

The One Where I Wrote a Huge Wall of Text, Selected All, Accidentally Hit “Paste,” and Overwrote the Entire Thing But I worked so hard on that! Let me think… it began with “Another day of doing anything except what I’m supposed to do,” followed by a Doge. And the end was “Starting today, go to bed early.” How did I connect these two? …It seems it was about how staying up late is essentially a form of escapism. Although there are many things that should be done, when “sleep” becomes an “urgent and important” event, one can directly skip other things and close their eyes (peacefully). ...

Sidebar: It just so happens that by yesterday, “Sojourner’s Diary” had exactly 26 entries, which can be extracted using a1z26… (The mysterious obsession with 26 for decryption enthusiasts) Today I tidied up the accumulated items here in Chengde, finding a pile of clothes and shoes. Now I can wear something different every day! Although I’ve never been keen on new clothes, in winter I always switch to my classic blue skin (but I really love that one, come on). ...

My family once told me that my 19th birthday held special significance. —Because today, my Gregorian and lunar birthdays would fall on the same day. Well, that’s the simple reason. This day didn’t feel particularly special; the important thing is I stayed up late again… This morning, I had Northern-style lamb soup; followed Grandpa to climb the surrounding mountains, taking a rarely-trodden wild path; ate Grandma’s big steamed buns and a freshly made cake from outside, happy all evening; attended a training session that was completely outside my knowledge base, feeling bewildered, I decided to take it easy and learn. But it seems, that was all for the day? ...

Actually, this isn’t a late-night show… but it seems I used to like writing everything at night. I should really change this habit and have a healthy routine. Today I arrived in Chengde, and to my surprise, it hasn’t snowed here at all. I had hoped to have the chance to play in the snow these past few days, but the weather forecast says it will be sunny for the next week… ...

What should I write today? I ask myself this every day, because every day in Chengde brings something new. So today, why not turn to the thing I do best: eating! Mainly because I went downtown today, and all that wandering-and-snacking resulted in a rather underwhelming performance at dinner… Still, in the few days since I returned to Chengde, my stomach has undoubtedly not had a moment’s rest. Grandma’s cooking has been number one in my heart since childhood, and nothing has ever shaken its position. Come to think of it, my favorites are always the same few things: baozi, dumplings, stuffed pies (wait, so 馅 isn’t pronounced xiè?), and fried noodles. Whenever Grandma asks, my answer is almost always one of the four. Since so much of my childhood was spent by her side, perhaps what keeps drawing me back is not only the food, but the meaning of “home” wrapped up in it. ...

For all I’ve written here, I still haven’t explained what my life currently looks like (though most of the people reading probably know already). I happen to be in a chronicling mood today, so, haha… In short: I am currently on a break in the middle of my studies abroad and expect to return to Malaysia at the end of January. I am in the Australian VCE system; feel free to ask Baidu. My “gaokao,” so to speak, will be next October, which means that while my old classmates are celebrating their freedom, I will still be fighting away. As for how my studies are going… same as ever. ...

I may have relatives in the north, but I am a southerner to the bone—and to be a southerner is to be obsessed with snow. So when I saw snow falling outside, the excitement felt almost instinctive. Excited or not, going outside still meant wrapping myself in layer after layer. Grandma knew that my brother and I were basically planning to get very intimate with the snow, so she added disposable gloves over our regular ones—a stroke of genius, as it turned out. ...

April was warm when I left; December is cold upon my return. You can tell a great deal about someone’s character from the little things in life. Their travel outfit, for example. Obviously, in Malaysia, where summer lasts all year, a T-shirt and shorts are plenty for everyday life. But what if your destination is northern China? That is precisely why you bring a padded coat to Malaysia. Equally obvious: the people shivering outside the airport in T-shirts and shorts at −9°C had not grasped this principle… ...