Baoji Blues: Graffiti, Heat, and Mystery Coordinates
i'm not exactly sure how i got here. i mean, literally, i followed these numbers someone whispered to me in a bar in chengdu: 3452465 and 1076548222. no explanation. just two strings of digits. i typed them into my maps app, hit 'go', and the next thing i know i'm standing in the middle of a soybean field on the outskirts of baoji, shaanxi province, my phone buzzing with a 'you have arrived' notification. the heat hit me like a wall. i just checked and it's 29.96 degrees celsius right now, but the feels like is 33.16, and humidity's sitting at 62% - my shirt's already past the point of no return. i'm a street artist, i usually chase the walls, not the weather, but this humidity is something else.
anyway, baoji. not the first place that comes to mind when you think 'art destination', but i heard rumors of some legit *bronze age artifacts that could inspire a fresh spray can piece. plus, the city's got this gritty, industrial vibe that's oddly appealing. the streets are a patchwork of crumbling communist-era blocks and shiny new malls, with scooters weaving like ants. the smell of spicy cumin lamb skewers and fermented tofu hangs heavy in the air, mixing with the exhaust. i've been here a day and i've already sweated through two shirts. it's that kind of place where you look at the sky and it's this white-grey blanket of humidity, no breeze.
i should probably give you the lay of the land. here's a map of where i'm stuck:
that blue dot is me, somewhere near the baoji bronze museum. i tried to go inside, but someone told me that tuesdays they're closed for 'soul cleaning' - whatever that means. i'll be honest, i'm not here for museums; i'm here for walls. i've been scouting for a spot to drop a piece, maybe on the side of that old textile factory on xingfu road. i heard from a local that the owner is cool with art as long as it's 'not too revolutionary'. we'll see.
the city's got its own rhythm. mornings are filled with the clatter of mahjong tiles in tea houses, afternoons are when everyone hides from the sun, and evenings bring out the street food vendors. i've become a regular at this little stall called lao qiang zi that serves biangbiang noodles the size of a belt. Yelp review says it's a must-try. i'd link to it but i'm too lazy to format properly, so here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lao-qiang-zi-mian-fu-baoji. the guy hooks it up with an extra spoon of chili oil, which is basically a suicide move in this heat, but it's so good. if you ever end up here, get the noodles, but maybe skip the chili if you're not into sweating bullets.
speaking of sweating, the weather's a character in itself. i checked the forecast before i left chengdu, but i guess numbers don't do it justice. it's not just hot, it's like breathing in a sauna. i've started carrying a towel like some old man playing tennis. the humidity sits on your skin, and by noon you feel like you're marinating. i heard that in winter it's freezing and dry, so maybe i picked the wrong season. oh well.
if you get bored of baoji (which you might after two days), xi'an is just a bullet train ride away - like an hour or so. TripAdvisor lists a ton of stuff to do there, but i'm keeping it local for now. there's a rumor that the back alleys behind the drum tower have some insane wheat paste art by some anonymous cat. i'm not gonna spill the exact spot, but if you ask around at bike 1 coffee (cool little cafe with decent espresso, rare in these parts), someone might slip you a location. just don't tell the authorities - last year they buffed a whole block because a tourist complained it was 'too edgy'. typical.
i also heard through the grapevine that the baoji greenway along the wei river has a new legal wall, but the city council is debating whether to turn it into a parking lot. so if you want to paint there, do it soon. i'm heading there tomorrow morning, sunrise, before the heat kills my创意. i'll bring extra cans, maybe do a piece about those mysterious coordinates. 3452465, 1076548222 - could be a code, could be a geocache, could be nothing. i like that they're just numbers, no context. feels like something a street artist would leave as a tag, but on a global scale.
anyway, i should probably wrap this up before my laptop succumbs to the humidity. the battery's dying, my brain's melting, and i need to find some shade. i'll leave you with some overhead shots i've taken around town. (nods to the photographer friend who lent me the camera). first, that ancient city wall that still stands like a giant grey dinosaur:
then there's this mind-blowing mural i stumbled upon near the river - someone's done a giant piece of a bronze horse* from the zhou dynasty, but with a modern twist. it's dope:
finally, a bowl of those noodles at lao qiang zi, because food is art too:
if you want more local insights, i've compiled a few links that saved my ass: Baoji HostelWorld page for cheap sleeps, Shaanxi Travel Blog for hidden gems, and a weird little forum where locals argue about the best jianbing spot. caveat emptor.
i'm off to find some cold beer and maybe a cooler wall. catch you on the flip side. peace.
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