Qingchengshan, pandas and more...

Ni hao all

My mum came to visit me on Friday from Bangladesh and is leaving tomorrow, so we've been doing the tourist thing, even tho of course i am NOT a tourist - wo shi Chengdu ren in fact.

On Sunday we took the coach from Xinanmen St (just across the river in town) to Qingchengshan, i.e. Mountain ('shan' means 'mountain'), which took around 90mins in a battered old bus with the driver smoking (of course, does anyone NOT smoke here?) but only cost 22 kwai each way (note to tourists - the currency is RMB, also known as yuan (pronounced 'you-en') and known colloquially as kwai, with small change known as mao) so can't complain.

The place itself is massive, the summit of Mt Qingcheng is just one of the things you can attempt (and we did it by cable car, a bit hairy but fine) so you can easily stay 2 days there. It is very touristy and I have to say the most rip-off place I have encountered in China. You pay 60 kwai entry fee, but every time you go somewhere, eg to get the ferry across a small lake to where the cable car is, costs 5 kwai, then a return cable car trip (and it's a long walk back down) is 70 kwai, and little did we know that a simple jasmine tea on the way down would cost 30 kwai. Each. Ludicrous! But you are up a mountain, what choice do you have? So I would say, it's definitely worth a trip, but be prepared to put your hand in your pocket quite a few times. If you fancy an escape out of the Chengdu smog, then it's worth a visit.

We went to the pandas today. If you go, you have the option of going to Dave's Cafe just before the bridge in town (catch the 48 to the second-to-last-stop) and he will organise a minivan to pick you up from where you live/where you are staying, take you to the pandas, show you round, and drop you back, and including that and the entry fee, that's 60 kwai which is pretty good going. You go in the van with tourists including of course ubiquitous Aussies! but it's fine and takes out the hassle. It takes about 40 mins so to go by taxi might cost you about 60 kwai. The pandas are so cute although all they do is scratch, eat and look dosy, but they are so easy to see and really up close. The red pandas are really cute and look so mischevious. You can see the baby pandas - no pictures (even tho some eejits tried) but just to see them is so worth it, they are so cute.

We also went to Jinli, and had some nibbly type things, and tonight went for hotpot (huoguo) with some friends of mine. My mum's face is still red thanks to the spicy-ness! So all in all, still loving Chengdu...so many things to see....

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