American born Andrew heads up international development at Chengdu’s Southwestern University of Finance by day – and party animal by night. He crowned himself the Party Prince now keeps Chengdu updated daily with his WeChat groups.
Andy enjoying a night out…
Well hello there, reader! You might be looking for some insight into Chengdu. There’s only 3 things you need to know—which I’ve forgotten for the moment, but we’ll come back to that. For convenience here, I’m just going to blatantly assume that: you’re pretty good with the English (i.e., TOEFL>100); you’re young (and hip and fun); and furthermore, you take your baijiu with a side of chili pepper. Let’s do it!!
Thursday
09:00
Burst out of bed in a blind panic. Relax just slightly when I see the time. Quick glance out the window to check if civilization is still standing. Realize the apartment is out of fruit and my hopes for a healthy diet are doomed; panic re-intensifies. Perform my daily postings of all Chengdu events in the Party Prince wechat groups/Facebook. Calisthenics. Lean harder on the caffeine crutch before hauling out the recycling.
17:00
Chengdu Food Tour with the expert Jordan Porter! Strain to limit the baijiu and chili pepper; fail.
Andy can’t keep away from those chillis.
21:00
Mustn’t forget openmic at Machu Picchu! Glad to support the creative community here, which is much better than it has any right to be.
23:00
Drinks at JING Bar in the Temple House, featuring real chill house music.
02:00
Skype with family, struggle to reassure them everything is Just Fine.
03:00
Well-earned rest. Dreams of API<100.
Friday
Meditation. Run. Body weightlifting. Vocal practice. Buddhism study. Leisurely river sidewalk (for the recommended dose of sunlight and greenery). Nap. Mandarin lesson. Polish off another chapter of my novel-in-progress. Then light reading before bed (Aeneid currently).
09:00
Wake up and realize it was all a dream. Discover phone still clutched in hand and resignedly begin scrolling through 921 new wechat messages…
10:00
Volunteering for kids’ causes, e.g., Second Hand Second Story clothes drive last week.
13:00
Serendipitously pass by Tianfu Square mosque, enjoy authentic Xinjiang street food.
14:00
Make plans to visit an art gallery or museum or park which do not materialize.
15:00
Meetup with Dieter (Chengdu-Expat) and Erik (UrTurn) at the Salmonist co-workspace: currently organizing the stuffing out of events like Startup Weekend Chengdu, November 11-13. Caffeine fix at the workspace café courtesy of Let’s Grind
What handsome fellows!
19:00
Try to counter-balance all the stimulant with a beer next door at The Beer Nest 2.
20:00
Monthly comedy open mic at Bookworm. Neglected to include the 2 beers for performers in my earlier drinking calculation, but at least some of my humor winds upintentional. (This is untrue.)
22:00
Bro-fist all the US Marines at McElroy’s, experience testosterone peak for the week.
Andy will be at SHFT Friday
23:00
Epic partytime! E.g., SHFT Halloween rave tonight!!
Saturday
07:00
Gods willing, some real actual exercise like the Yulingwan kabrathon (canoe-bike-run) last month.
12:00
If still conscious: brunch at Niccolo or Moka Bros. or wherever the Food Finders WeChat group commands me.
18:00
Aperitivo at Bucciano’s for dinner. It’s quite an atmosphere with all the pasta and bread and Italian I just barely don’t understand.
Andy does a better job keeping active than us.
19:30
Theatre show I hope, e.g., Man of La Mancha this week, albeit in Chinese. The song of the lone, brave knight resonates with me for some reason…
22:00
Whiskey sour at Revolucion Bar (this weekend, for Dia de Los Muertos). It’s straight-up THRILLING when they light the whole bar on fire.
23:00
Party ata new level, e.g., Walk on Air, Wangfujing rooftop party this weekend! Easy way to lose a whole night to sweet devil-music that way.
Sunday
09:30
Interview some innocent high schooler applying to my alma mater. The world seemed so bright back then, didn’t it? Sigh…
12:00
If I’m feeling patriotic, cast my absentee ballot at Bookworm. Strange, I can’t find Bernie Sanders on the list; did someone replace him?
16:00
Reflecton our existential inertia.
21:30
Movie by Silver Keen, Chengdu Movie Club at Mike’s Pizza (e.g., this week, “Halloween”).
Andy sent us so many photos without his shirt on, we thought he would be very upset if we didn’t include one.
00:30
Some wistful thoughts about pre-tyrannical Athens before curling up with my cat and going to sleep, another week survived… <censored sentence>
Just kidding, dear censor! I hate cats.
YOLO,
The Party Prince
