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The first thing to hit me in Chengdu was the noise. I use 'hit' almost literally - in my first weeks the overwhelming cacophony of this monolithic megacity struck me like a wall, leaving me exhausted and disoriented. I'm intrigued to see, now that said cacophony has faded and merged into the background of my aural landscape, how I will react to the comparative calm of London. I have a creeping feeling that I'll miss it: there are certain sounds that are so illustrative of my time here that I'll be sad to lose them. I thought I'd share some with you - whether good, bad or irritating to the point of screams, I feel that they'll always evoke an unforgettable year.
- The clink of the metal instruments used by street food sellers to advertise the wares they are hawking from their shoulder poles
- The chorus of a hundred e-bike taxi drivers at the exit of every Metro:
Lai lai lai, mei nu! motie! MOTIE!
(Approx.: 'Ere, love, come 'ere! Motorbike taxi! MOTORBIKE TAXI!)
- The whirr of an entire street's electricity generators during power cuts
- The sundown sizzle of shao kao, chao mian and chao fan being cooked on open fires
- The assorted bells, whistles and horns of a billion vehicles. Always and everywhere.
- Variations on the following phone conversation. For maximum effect, read with the volume of the giant mobile phone dude from early Noughties sketch show 'Trigger Happy TV':
'WEI! DUI! WO ZAI DIAN YING YUAN! EN, EN, KEYI! MM, MM, EN, EN, EN, SAAAAAAAZI?! EN, KEEEEYI. DUIDUIDUI, HAO LE, BYE BYE'
(HELLO! YEAH! I'M IN THE CINEMA! *NONCOMMITAL NOISES INDICATING PROBABLE AGREEMENT YET REMAINING AMBIGUOUS*, WHAAAAAT?! AH, SUUUURE. YEAHYEAHYEAH, OK, BYE')
- In any open space, music blaring from a hi-fi for the benefit of legions of retirees practicing group dancing (including sword and fan variants), aerobics, and karaoke.
- The drills, hammers and blowtorches of a thousand simultaneous construction projects being conduted by migrant workers in round-the-clock shifts.
- Ear-splitting happy hardcore in all shops, regardless of time of day
- The ripple of laowai/waiguoren (foregner) that follows in your wake
- The chorus of HUAN YING GUANG LIN emitted from a crack team of sales assistants/waiters bearing down on you the second you set foot over the threshold. Usually swiftly followed by things you don't want being thrust arbitrarily in your direction with explanations of why you definitely do want them, they are very special.
- The clack of mah jiang tiles in the tea house
- The snores of snoozing stallholders at noon in the art market
- comments
Mam Another wonderful evocation of your year in China. I hadn't thought about the aural landscape and now I can almost hear it with you. You've set me off tuning in to my own aural landscape... the distant drone of F1 highlights over the creak and steam of the ironing session in the next room, birds singing in the courtyard as dusk approaches, traffic rumbling on the main road and the gentle whir of the computer as I tap away at the keys.