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Published: June 18th 2006
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So here we are in Chengdu - home of the panda, the hotpot and the beautiful Sichuan girls that Alasdair has been promised ever since our arrival in China!
But first, back to Xian. We spent a really enjoyable few days in this city. It struck a good balance between the hectic, modern capital of Beijing and the deliberately small-town Pingyao. As an ancient capital itself and the Eastern terminus of the Silk Road, Xian has its own rich cultural and historical appeal. Within the city walls, we climbed the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower and looked at ... bells ... and ... drums! We went up the Drum Tower at night which seems to be the time to experience Xian, and the evening is most definitely the time when the city comes to life. It transforms from sunbaked, dusty centre to neon/lantern-lit cultural fayre. In particular, the Muslim quarter was fantastic with many streetside eateries selling barbecued food with Chinese bread. What surprised us, were the number of luxury shops inside the city, in fact just the sheer number of shops was a revelation. Even two weeks in we are still trying to understand the
economic contrasts that exist here in China - on the one hand, we can sleep for a few pounds, eat for the same, and travel locally for next to nothing; on the other hand - there is a plethora of expensive shops selling luxury goods at Western prices. The question is to what extent this is actually satisfying consumer demand, or is partially prosperity propaganda. Probably a bit of both.
From Xian we visited the Terracotta Warriors. They are located about an hour's bus trip away from Xian. The site comprises a number of modern buildings, with the Warriors mainly held in a large aircraft hangar style shelter. Carefully lined up in battle formation, the exhibit does its best to present the warriors in their original state. At more than two thousand years old, it is undeniably an incredible archeological find, and on that basis alone is captivating. However, and this is not necessarily a criticism, they will always remain inanimate and thus are incapable of holding your attention for any great length of time. The site is rounded off with a well put together museum which once again is at the mercy of the dreaded Chinese tour groups. What
we found particularly interesting was the disproportionately large section of the museum given over to the story of the future development of the site - how after thirty years, they still have work to do is anyone's guess! Moreover, their pledge to continuing this effort (written on a gold plaque in the museum) was a window into the Chinese psyche.
After another entertaining night on the hard sleeper, we rattled into Chengdu early yesterday morning. We were poached at the train station by competing hostel staff. Ironically, our genuine uncertainty as to which hostel we should opt for, led to the price being driven down without any active bartering on our part. The result: the bling room in the newly-opened and ueber trendy Loft Hostel.
Chengdu feels bigger yet more relaxed than Xian. Yet again, heaps of shops and plenty of hustle and bustle, though on a slightly more manageable scale. The Sichuan province is famous for its spicy cuisine, typified by its "hotpot" - a bubbling cauldron of peppered oil into which you dip your chosen raw ingredients. Needless to say, these include the readily identifiable to the downright disgusting! The jury is still out as to exactly what
Alasdair ate last night.
Sichuan province is famous for one more thing - pandas. And we saw plenty of them today. We headed out bright and early to the local panda breeding reserve which was surprisingly abundant in playful, posing pandas.
We are going to chill out here for a couple more days before contemplating the Sichuan-Tibet highway as a route to Yunnan province. If you don't hear from us for a wee while, assume we're at high altitude. Bye for now and hope you are all happy and well.
P.S. Internet bars with CD burning and USB facilities are hard to find. If you do stay in the Loft Hostel, turn right out of the hostel, continue to the end of the street, turn right again, head towards the Lutianhua Plaza and 100m along on the opposite side of the road is a shop with a red outer frame and two computers inside (Building no. 168). This place will take care of your computer needs.
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