Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, is a perfect place for "losers,” suggests the old saying "Don't visit Sichuan when you are still young."

Sichuan, also known as "Heavenly Kingdom", is rich in natural resources and cultural heritage. Surrounded by high mountains and nurtured by big rivers, the basin has avoided wars and natural disasters throughout the ages. This peace has helped cultivate a sort of "loser's personality." That means being slack and indulging in the everyday pleasures of life.

Chengdu teahouse

Some of the best places to find these "losers" are the teahouses in Chengdu. Here, they gamble by playing mahjong and all kinds of card games, watch their caged birds, chat, or do nothing. They enjoy eating ma la tang (meaning "numb, spicy and hot"),, a cheap Chengdu delicacy featuring skewered bits of vegetable and meat cooked in a hot pot); and playing mahjong with tiny stakes.

While the nation hangs on stories of remarkable rescues by thousands of relief and medical workers involved in the earthquake rescue effort, the lassie faire style in Sichuan province is also evidencing a fresh perspective on the "loser's personality”: enthusiasm and optimism.

Hundreds of Chengdu taxi drivers rush to quake regions

On May 13, only one day after the enormous devastation of the earthquake reared its ugly head, hundreds of Chengdu taxi drivers, carrying packs of basic necessities, voluntarily streamed into Dujiangyan, one of the worst hit quake regions, to help transport the victims and donate record sums of goods and money in a striking and unscripted public response. Some of them droved around-the-clock in order to make every second count. “If we arrive one second earlier, maybe one more life will be saved,” said a stout taxi driver.