We haven’t done much this week in an effort to save money (sort of accomplished) but this trip was particularly special because I was able to make some new local friends and gain a valuable insight into local life and relax a lot playing cards, puzzles, pool and darts every day.

Tuesday we ventured out to the peoples’ park to a train ticket booth to grab our ticket back to Xian. The ticketing system in china leaves a lot to be desired with an inability to buy a ticket more than 10 days in advance or from any other station than the one you currently reside near. This has made planning around New Year very difficult, however we left Tom with money back in Xian to get our ticket to Xinjiang and after a loooong queue we had a ticket back to meet him at the weekend.

We strolled around the park for a few hours and watched the Elderly folks while their time away by practicing tai chi or ballroom dancing, belting out opera classics on a portable karaoke player, sipping tea and playing mah-jong, chess and cards by the artificial lake. I wish things could be like this in the west; you get a real sense of community watching huge groups of people doing the same things, having fun together. Couples were hiring out boats to row around the water together. I would have really liked to do this but no one spoke a word of English and negotiating the price was impossible so we returned back to the hostel.
Thursday night we were invited out to a reggae bar (thanks to Fenners hair) with two of the two gay-couples we’ve met here. It was a lot of fun, decent live music and a really good ambience. Through the door there was a tiny hatchway in the ceiling with a ladder that led up to some very low ‘sofas’ that overlooked the band from above. We sat and drank the night away with some really good conversation from the local lads. I find them very brave; being gay in any country is often a hardship but here in China it is very difficult indeed. Chengdu is the gay capital and has a few bars. Here it is a real lifestyle with a lot of added ‘campness’ and playing the part. They also no not believe in bisexuality here. It’s been really good to find people from our generation to hang out with here, particularly these liberal guys from Chengdu, where we can talk freely about politics and add another dimension to what we know of Chinas past and present governmental policies. They are very aware of the freedoms they lack but tell us optimistic stories of how much better it is for their generation than in the past. Tom has prepared us for his fathers’ inevitable crying stage around New Year where he reminisces about hardships their family endured during the Cultural Revolution.
I also feel at this point while discussing the native lives to mention the hacking, snorting, spitting and snot rocket customs in China. These people are obsessed with distributing their own mucus. As I write this blog, I hear them hacking on the street every FIVE minutes. No exaggeration. I have NEVER had my gag reflex triggered so many times in my life than in China and it has left a stain (for want of a better word) on this incredible nation.
Panda watching at the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Centre, just outside the city, is a must-do. We got up early Friday and took the loft hostels panda tour. We decided to do this for 98 RMB as the only way of doing it alone for cheaper was to take the bus which arrived much later than the tour and missed the only real part of the day that the pandas are awake and interesting.

The panda sanctuary was above my expectations. The enclosures were large and the animals appeared healthy and happy. First we visited the cubs’ enclosure and watched as they were let out of there sleeping quarters and ran for the bamboo stalks to eat their fill. After a few minutes gazing at their great cuteness we headed for the adults and then for the nursery holding the tiny babies; at which I felt like my heart would burst because they were the sweetest things I have yet to lay my eyes on. The young pandas were especially fun to watch fighting each other and playing. There were too many priceless moments to be captured on camera and many of which are blurred or too noisy. I blame it on the poor lighting, glass and not having a fast super telephoto lens, but trust me, they were gorgeous. I could sit and observe them all day if it was not for the impending bus pick up (reason why I avoid arranged tours)

After this we headed for the Red pandas, which I felt sorry for as they are equally cute and endangered, but are not quite as famous, lacking good PR. We took half an hour to browse the museum and educated ourselves on the artificial insemination and captive breeding techniques and trotted back to the bus.

I was slightly disappointed in the evening; the equivalent of the dumpling parties we have frequented in the north are ‘hot pot parties’ in Sichuan, teaching guests how to make the famous mind-blowingly-spicy Sichuan dish. I had looked forward to this all week (a free meal after all) but it was cancelled. I was also upset by my decision earlier on in the week not to visit the Leshan Buddha sculpture, the largest Buddha in the world, as I had seen some pretty large Buddhas (18m) in Datong and it was a day trip away from Chengdu. I discovered too late on in the week to actually go, that the Leshan Buddha sculpture was actually 71m tall and probably would have been a spectacle worth a visit. Something left for another trip I guess!

On Saturday/Sunday we travelled back to Xi’an to meet Tom and on Wednesday we travel to his families in Xinjiang for the festival. Today I am off to purchase some gifts to bring to the family and find myself nervous and excited about this venture.

Xinjiang is the province of superlatives, it is the largest; the most northerly, the most arid province (It is the furthest place on earth from any ocean); contains the hottest and the coldest places (-25 degrees this week!); the longest inland river, the Tarim; the lowest marsh, the Aydingkol Lake (Moonlight Lake) in the Turpan Basin; the largest inland lake and the largest desert (the Gobi; it shares the most borders (Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, Mongolia, Russia. The ancient Silk Road has brought Xinjiang a mix of eastern and western cultures which left behind stunning scenery, yet attracts very little tourism...

Xinjiang has been in the world news often in the past year for the riots between ethnic minorities and the Han Chinese groups which include several hundred deaths, bus bombings and frequent arson attacks, similar in political nature to the problems between China and Tibet. Internet and even text messaging has been cut off to the region to halt the flow of information in and out to keep a lid on the matter so I will be out of touch from Thursday till around the 22nd of February.

In particular this will be a truly extraordinary part of my trip as Tom has informed us that none of his immediate or extended family have ever seen a foreigner before and we are truly honoured to be able to experience a traditional festival with them; In addition to preparing myself for the riots and extreme weather I am researching the strange and interesting customs and food I am to immerse myself in to give a good impression of our country;

• Cup must be turned upside down when you have had enough or it will be constantly topped up.
• No standing chopsticks in food because it appears similar to incense sticks which are used to remember the dead.
• No speaking of giving of four items, as the word ‘four’ is similar to the word for ‘dead’.
• When purchasing gifts, do not present anyone with green headwear as it the youthful colour implies the recipients spouse is cheating on them.
• Accept all food given even if you don’t want it and simply don’t eat I - do not refuse the food to ‘save face’
• No pointing of any kind towards old people (includes crossing of legs and pointing of toes)
• Wear clean clothes on New Year’s Day to promote luck.
• No Cleaning of any kind to be done on New Year’s Day as it is believed you will sweep away the good fortune.
• Leave some food on your plate when you are finished eating - it symbolises leaving food for next generation and shows the host you do not want more.

One final area of slight anxiety is the food Tom insists on telling me about. Whilst I am glad to hear of the sheer abundance, as Asian portions do nothing to satisfy me, here is a little glimpse at our menu....

Dog, ducks neck, scorpions, chicken feet, pigs trotters, smoked pigeon, eel, turtle soup (which the turtle is still alive when places in the broth), lamb kidneys, liver, intestines, stomach, tongue and brain, pigs eyes and tongue etc...The philosophy is open mind, open stomach! The one thing I have insisted on with Tom is my exclusion from any kind of monkey related food. He was ‘kind’ enough to show us a video yesterday of a delicacy whereby a monkey is scalped, a portion of its skull cut out and boiling oil poured into it to fry the brain whilst it is still alive. Once again, I reiterate the gag reflex I have become a master in taming since I arrived here.

Anyway, all this aside, I am incredibly intrigued about what awaits me on my next instalment of extremely-off-the-beaten-track and already cannot wait to tell you all about it! More from me in two weeks time!

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