June 26th, 2006 | The lowdown by Karen Liew

Everyday Living in Chengdu City.

City Roads
The streets are flat and conducive for people to travel on electrically-charged bicycle. These are very popular, silent, pollution-free and fast enough to travel from A to B. The roads here are particular friendly to cyclists, with a lane reserved for cyclists only.

The buildings are modern and we see many developments and new condominiums springing up. However, Chengdu does not have the cleanest air (often hazy) or the most efficient building maintenance – it is common to see black dust settle and accumulate on buildings, making even the newer condominiums look old. But no one seems to complain.

Transportation
There is an efficient bus network here, which takes us to most of the places we want to go. It costs one dollar to travel on a non-air conditioned bus and two dollars on an air-conditioned bus. Some buses hire bus conductors to collect the fares and issue tickets while others are OMO – one man operation.

Bus fares are not calculated by distance – it costs the same if you stop after one stop or ten stops. There is no need to press the bell before alighting – the bus will stop at all stops and even has a recorded message indicating which bus-stop it is approaching. Sometimes the driver will yell, "Yao Xia?", that is, asking if anyone is alighting. Commuters who want to alight will typically shout back if they want the driver to stop.

Depending on the bus company, some buses are fitted with a small black-and-white monitor at the drivers seat to allow the driver a better view of the back-door steps where people alight – an added safety feature. Being on the bus reminds me of Singapores buses in the 1970s — old, rickety, all metal and hard seats.

The buses are old but not short of technology. For regular commuters, they buy a pre-paid card where they can scan on the machine and the amount is deducted instantly. One of the quirks of bus drivers here is that they would shut their engines at each traffic stop. When the traffic light turns green, they switch on their engines again and move off.

Taxi meters start at 5 dollars (equivalent to about 1 Sing Dollar). All taxis run on natural gas. Taxi fare is CNY 5 for the first 3 kilometers and CNY 1.4 per every succeeding kilometer from 6:00 to 22:00. At night from 22:00 to 6:00 next morning, the taxi fee is CNY 6 for the first 3 kilometers and CNY 1.7 per every succeeding kilometer.

By Pedicab or "San Lun Che"
The charge starts from CNY 4. You can bargain according to estimated distance.

Weather
Geographically, Chengdu is a basin surrounded by higher altitude plains and mountains, which makes its weather unique. We rarely see the sun because its rays are blocked by pollution and other particles. It can be very hazy on some days. In summer we get heat that feels like a sauna — warm air that os trapped and cannot escape. The sun may not always be beating down, but the air is hot and can become very humid.

The weather hovers around 18 degrees Celsius in Spring but we constantly watch for temperature changes as the weather is also dependant on those cold fronts that bring the mercury level down a few notches. Over here, we tend to watch the change of seasons more closely. If its going to be cold, we have to wear more appropriate gear; when buying fruits, for example, prices will vary, so we avoid buying fruits that are not in season and take advantage of the ones that are.

In homes and some restaurants, they use a tall, standing air-conditioner (usually placed in the corner of the living-room) that blows hot air in cold weather and cold air in warmer weather. If you watch some of the made-in-China drama serials on television, you might notice these appliances on the set.

Language
The local people speak mostly Sichuanese (the main dialect). Most people here speak both Sichuanese and Putonghua. Foreigners soon learn that the locals do not speak simple English and most will learn a few Mandarin phrases to get by especially when communicating with waitresses, taxi drivers and shopkeepers.

Some have devised taxi cards where they get someone to help them write the street names and places in Chinese so that they can show the driver where to go.

Restaurants
Most Chinese restaurants will not have their menus in English, so knowing the names of a few common dishes before hand is useful. Some foreigners will resort to pointing to a picture or the next table and ask for the same but this method is not without flaws – a friend once pointed to a picture which he thought was fish but it turned out to be chicken feet skin!
Many restaurants offer "wai mai" or a take-away menu where they deliver the food right to your doorstep, at no extra cost, within a kilometer distance.

Many of the restaurants here do not provide highchairs for the little ones, so it is best to bring along their prams when eating out. Also, there is no designated smoking area, and people are free to light up anywhere and non-smokers have to tolerate them.

Summertime Quirks and Idiosyncracies
With summer, it is not uncommon to see men with paper fans fanning themselves in public. Also some men just simply lift up their shirts half-way, exposing their mid-drifts. Yet others take off their shirts entirely and walk around bare bodied.

Weve had power cuts simply because too many people were switching on their air-conditioners in the summer heat and there was not enough electricity to go round so power to certain housing estates was deliberately cut at certain times of the day.