Chilling in Chengdu

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Arriving in Chengdu, we did not have any definite onward plans. We decided to rest there and contemplate our next move and we ended up staying a week.
Chengdu is a city with the population of London, but much more compact. Like London it has 3 ring roads.
It was fun to be in a really big city again. We stayed in a Chinese hotel on the edge of town and got about the city by bus.
Chengdu has a couple of major attractions within easy reach, the Giant Panda research centre, and the Leshan giant Buddha, the largest Buddha in the world at 71m high. We enjoyed checking these out and also the local Buddhist monastery. Sadly, outside the monastery, we saw some beggars in very poor health, with open wounds and distorted limbs as a result of muscle contractures.
We spent hours browsing shops and back streets and had a small fix of Western food. I have discovered that in China my size is XL, and most shops don’t even stock this size! So I paid a visit to the local tailor who made me a great pair of wool mix trousers for 5 quid.
In Chengdu we bumped into other cycle tourists, two couples riding tandems. A German couple, Rene and Anya, who we had heard about from Alex, the Russian cyclist we met in Siberia (they have been riding a similar route) and a French couple who we had already bumped into at Beijing train station when trying to retrieve our bicycles. An amazing coincidence. We all had dinner together to share our experiences which was fun.
We decided our next move would be to head to the minority regions in the Eastern Guizhou province, an overnight train journey away. Before leaving the hotel, we went though our luggage and discarded many items that we no longer required. We invited the hotel staff to have a look and see if they wanted any of it. It was humbling to watch them go through it, things which to us were embarrassing worn out they gathered up gratefully and took away to give a new life.

Nov 9 Day 207 Rest day Chengdu
Hotel 60 Y
Food and drink in Western Restaurants (needed break from all the Chinese food) (200Y)
Buses 16Y
Groceries 30Y
English Books 115 Y

Total = 306Y
Euro = 39

Nov 10 Day 208 Rest day Chengdu
Hotel 60Y
Buses 8 Y
Restaurants 80Y
Groceries 20Y

Total = 168 Y
Euro = 16

Nov 11 Day 209 Rest day Chengdu
Hotel 60Y
Visited Zhaougie monastery 4 Y
Restaurant 22 Y
Groceries 50Y
Internet 11

Total = 147
Euro = 14

Nov 12 Day 210 Rest day Chengdu
Hotel 60
Visit to Giant Panda Research Centre 30Y x 2
Souvenir 30 Y
Taxis 21
Restaurants - 50
Buses 8
Groceries 35

Total = 264
Euro = 25

Nov 13 Day 210 - Chengdu (Visit to Leshan Giant Buddha)
Hotel 60
Buses 173
Restaurants 70
Boat trip to view Buddha 50 x2
Entrance to Giant Buddha site 110 x2
Taxi 20
Groceries 20

Total = 663
Euro = 62

Nov 14 Day 211 - Chengdu
(Seven months, 8302 km, 9186.52 euro, 43.5 euro per day, approx £31)

Hotel - 60
Tailor (new trousers for Sonya) 80
Restaurant 28
Groceries
Bicycle parts (new rear cluster and derailleur for Sonya’s bike (300), new handlebars for Nigel’s bike, (50)
Internet 2

Total = 520
Euro = 48.5.

Total = 790 Euro
Daily average for month = 25 Euro
18 pounds.

Nov 15 Day 212
Chengdu to Guiyang by overnight train (hard sleeper) 139
+ 135
Bicycle carriage on train 115
Restaurant 52
Groceries 80

Total = 521
Euro = 48.5

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