Chengdu 2017

During the pleasant and intoxicating seven days of my trip to Chengdu three summers ago, I probably never imagined I would return to this city in less than four years.

With what kind of mood, carrying what kind of burdens, and intending to pursue what kind of aspirations.

I heard as early as the freshman orientation that the Software School had a practical training program in the junior year, which would take place in Kunshan or Chengdu. Time flew, and soon during the winter break of my junior year, I received the news that we were coming to Chengdu.

My study plans for the winter break were never really implemented. Up to now, I’ve only finished reading The Mythical Man-Month. The vast majority of my productive work time was spent on that annoying personal project of mine, which still isn’t completely finished. I guess I’ve fallen into the so-called “tar pit.” But then again, the time wasn’t completely wasted. Working on a project is better than playing games and then regretting it, or so I think.

The Trip to Chengdu

Speaking of Chengdu, to an outsider like me, it’s known as a foodie’s paradise, a city of leisure, the Land of Abundance. But I’m not much of a foodie, so from that perspective, Chengdu doesn’t hold much appeal for me. However, I had promised a classmate during the summer after high school graduation that we would travel together—to do them a favor—so we went together. After checking flight prices back then, we found tickets to Chongqing were very cheap, so we decided to play in Chongqing for two days first and then take the high-speed train to Chengdu. Eating and drinking along the way, it felt no different from what we expected. We did truly witness the laid-back lifestyle of Chengdu locals. Sometimes seeing old Chengdu residents strolling leisurely on the streets made my own mood relax, but unfortunately, I was distracted back then, always thinking about other things, so that trip didn’t feel real.

So now there’s no sense of novelty either. I haven’t privately attached any unrealistic expectations to this training. The only expectation is that I can calm my mind.

Apart from almost going to the wrong train station (a place called Xi’an South Station that I had never been to), the journey was fairly smooth. The six of us arrived in this easygoing city just like that.

Our destination was in the northwest of Chengdu, in the suburbs of Pi County. It was said to be a two-hour drive, and I fully expected it to be some desolate place. We got off the train a little after 6 PM. A middle-aged man at the station followed us from the moment we exited, trying to get his first fare of the day. We were so annoyed that we granted his wish—25 yuan per person for the six of us to get to our stop, which was reasonable.

And thus I learned about the prowess of Chengdu drivers.

Dozens of traffic lights, and the driver uncle, taking advantage of the still-dark sky, didn’t stop for a single one. A seven-seater van, speeding along at 80 km/h without a hint of fear—even wilder than Xi’an’s taxi drivers.

Upon arrival, I found it much prettier than I imagined, with no feeling of a county town at all. It looked more like a big city, with high-rises everywhere.

About Jingrong Town

After living here for a few days, I find this place strange, with an eerie feeling—so few people, yet everywhere is filled with motivational slogans encouraging entrepreneurship: giant banners with photos of Jack Ma, Lei Jun, Robin Li, even Steve Jobs and Bill Gates hanging on roadside buildings. There are actually three coffee shops in one block. It all seems so serious.

So, filled with curiosity, I searched on Zhihu and found these results:

In summary, it’s a modern town built in response to the national “mass entrepreneurship” call, rising from the leftover properties of Foxconn. Currently in its early development stage, the government has set up the infrastructure and then offers quite good benefits to attract investment and businesses, aiming to develop it into an incubation base for entrepreneurial talent/companies. This is related to the new development policies of Chengdu’s new mayor, with the ultimate goal of becoming the next Zhongguancun, or even the next Silicon Valley.

But I also think entrepreneurship requires both an environment and a methodology; you can’t just rely on hype. What this place will become in the future remains to be seen.

New Semester, “New Atmosphere”

I thought upon arrival we would have a work environment with excellent internet speed, comfortable surroundings, and individual workstations. Who knew we would still have to attend classes, with no internet in the dorms and poor internet speed in the classrooms.

In such an environment, I perfectly missed the retake registration for Probability Theory and the sign-up for Software Project Management :) (just by one hour).

As for why I have one retake and one make-up exam: the former is because I failed a deferred exam due to not studying seriously, losing even the chance to skip it; the latter is because I missed too many classes and was barred from taking the exam. But looking on the bright side, my university experience is now complete :)

Ultimately, it’s because I don’t know what’s on my mind all day, just not paying attention to my own affairs, so suffering setbacks is pretty much routine.

Missing the registration, given the increasingly strict school management these days, probably means we’ll meet again next semester.

Anyway, live and learn.

Back to the Main Topic

The main purpose of coming to Chengdu this time is for the practical training, aiming to learn some practical knowledge and develop software following standard, regulated processes.

Having had previous, not entirely successful, experience with freelance work, I came here all ears this time, genuinely wanting to learn something with an open mind.

But according to the requirements, we can only do Java development. This means I can’t continue with the previous project Orange-Juice that I was collaborating on with a classmate, so we had to regroup. My roommates were so insistent that I stay with them, so I’ll suppress that bit of regret—after all, what does it matter what we work on? The important thing is to be serious.

So—clear away distractions. The mistakes made are in the past. It’s time to calm down and settle in for this month.

I heard it snowed again in Xi’an. Here in Chengdu, it rained. The air is damp, carrying a hint of chill.

I hope I can walk forward quietly, one step at a time.

/Reflections/