Massage with your dinner, Mdm?

Our first dinner in Chengdu was an explosion of chilli used in all varieties and forms in various small bite-sized dishes. This was our introduction to Sichuan street snacks, from an array of dan dan mian (noodles), steamed dumplings and wantons with chilli bean paste topping, cold roast chicken and smoked duck pieces, to glutinous rice balls with stuffings.

These were really extra fiery bowls of noodle - the bowl in the foreground with the red chilli oil may look 'numbing' but it was the one in the background (with the dark paste) that was the 'taste-bud' killer, requiring gulps of cool liquid to down the fires!
The whole table was filled to the brim with each person having his or her own set of 12 xiao-zhe (little bite-sized) dishes in small bowls and dishes. With more than half of these dishes cooked with the local chillies and peppers, we made little headway in mopping up our allocated dishes and they kept piling up!
Even vegetables and nuts are not spared the chilli accompaniment - just look at those long beans and the raw or slightly undercooked peanuts in the background. As you probably guess, the cold meat appetizers (smoked chicken and duck slices) went the fastest.

Not forgetting the famous 'mapo tofu' which epitomizes Sichuan's culinary culture, this dish of smooth soft beancurd and minced pork cooked with Sichuan chilli bean paste and ground Sichuanese chillies and OIL appeared at every single meal when we were in Chengdu and Jiuzhaigou. {"marginal utility" for mapo tofu decreased pretty quickly as the days went by} As if the dish is not hot enough, this particular version had sichuan crushed red peppers sprinkled on top as well.

Chengdu is apparently famous for producing expert masseurs, but even I had a culture shock upon seeing these gentlemen giving back and shoulder-rubs and arm massages to the diners at the restaurant, in the midst of their dinner. Wonder if the massage helps to strengthen the constitution for the fiery chillies?