As PDXWildlife primarily posts on the happenings of pandas and interns, we thought it might be a nice gesture to speak about the familiar faces that we encounter everyday in China.

The walk from our apartment to the panda base bus stop takes us past the same people everyday. Most are these are onlooking shop keepers and fruit vendors, but a few take the time to smile, wave and strike up a conversation. A constant in our walks since 2010 has been two “grocery” ladies. A mom and daughter team that has functioned as our bus stop, cab catcher, price negotiator, and liquid vendor. They are always helpful and are a great asset to PDXWildlife.

A very short distance away from the mother-daughter grocery team is a noodle and dumpling shop that we have dubbed the “Happy Face Restaurant” due to the smiley face on the back of the chairs, but more importantly because of the owners. Never have we ever witnessed them without a smile on their faces when they greet us. Their pork dumplings are served in a spicy chili broth and given a sprinkle of diced green onions and sesame seeds… Very tasty.

Along the lines of smiling restaurant owners is the constant photos that we are asked to be in. It’s quite funny to be a walking sideshow, but you quickly realize that most of the people we cross have never interacted with Westerners. We once asked a colleague why people stare so much and her reply was this- “Wouldn’t you stare if E.T. walked right by you”? Not the most endearing association, but fairly comical nonetheless.

Last but certainly not the least is Mr. Cheng (pictured at very top). We met Cheng through the panda keepers from Adelaide, Australia. We were hunting for a spot to eat and they recommended we try his small shop which happened to be two blocks away from our apartment at that time. His spicy beef noodles were hands down the best that we have ever tried. He has since even shared his cooking method with me, but it is more difficult, messy and time consuming than I care to try more than once.

Cheng has remained an important figure as a friend as well as an important contact for any problems that we encounter in China. We’ve gone on odd trips together and are continually invited to his home to dine with his entire family. In a sense, he treats us like his family and for that, we are eternally grateful. The least I could do was to make him a small wooden sign that you can see at the top of our picture together.

We certainly owe a huge debt of gratitude to many more of the people we encounter on a regular basis- The Hot Waitstaff Restaurant, Baozi Chef, Key Lady, Smoking Copy Center, Smiling Smoker, Hot Pot Wong’s, Dumpling Chef, Potato Cart Family, and of course, everyone at the CCRCGP.