Around and about Chengdu

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We stayed in a place called Mix Hostel but again, because we'd booked a double room, they actually put us in a hotel just down the road. It's a good way to get to stay in a hotel for cheaper, cheaper price!!

We went with Darryl for a walk around the area near Wenshu Temple, which wasn't far from Mix. It's an arty area and all looked quite new, although it has been built in a traditional style. We searched for somewhere to have lunch, which was surprisingly difficult. There were a few bars but none serving food. We spotted a restaurant with a balcony but it then took us ages to find the entrance! Anyway, when we found it, they offered us seats downstairs. We asked if we could sit upstairs. They were a little reluctant but then showed us up to the VIP rooms!! The 3 of us had a beautifully decorated room to ourselves, with our own dedicated hostess - we didn't even have to pay any extra! She dished out all the food - at one point, we even thought she was going to feed us!! We tried the Sichuan dishes highlighted by Ta Lin in our 'Rough Guide' and they were delicious!

After lunch we headed to an internet place, outside were some exercise machines. We'd seen these all over China, in the cities, and thought they were kids playgounds, until we saw lots of adults doing their exercises. So naturally Orla had to have a go!

That evening, we asked the guy in Mix if any bars would be showing the football (Aston Villa v Spurs, who Darryl happened to support). He didn't understand so we resorted to watching it in our hotel room. Orla went to the supermarket to get beers whilst the boys watched the game. The first supermarket only had warm beer on the shelves. In the second, she found some in the fridge but when she took them out, one of the shop assistants shouted at her, "No, no, no", took them off her and put them back in the fridge and proceeded to get warm ones off the shelf!! Orla asked why she couldn't have the cold ones but the woman just kept saying no. She walked out and luckily found some in the next shop, which even opened the bottles for you so became our 'local' after that!

Aston Villa 1-1 Spurs.


The next day (15th), we got up early to catch a bus to Leshan to visit the giant Buddha statue, Dafo. Our bus seemed to drop us on the outskirts of Leshan town. A woman was gesturing to us to get on another bus but someone else was pointing us in another direction so we weren't really sure what to do. We got on the bus though and didn't really know where we would end up. Again, it worked out fine though, and we were dropped right outside the Dafo complex. There was so much more to the site than we realised. We were only expecting to see the Buddha but spent the first couple of hours walking around temples, caves and sculptures. It was very impressive.

More exciting still was that Orla had her first request for a photo! Other travellers kept telling us about Chinese people asking to have their picture taken with them. No one had asked us and we were beginning to feel like there was something wrong with us (no comments, please!) When the man rushed up to Orla at the caves, pointing at himself, then her, then the camera, she was chuffed and gave her best beam while his wife took the picture. He didn't like that she was taller than him though, so stood on a higher step! Very smug that no one had asked Steve or Darryl yet.

When we found Dafo, there were HUGE crowds. It was mayhem. We managed to push our way through the throngs to take a photo of his head. There were enormous queues to climb down the cliff steps next to Buddha. We asked someone near the top of the steps how long they had been queuing - they said 2 hours! We decided to give it a miss and try to find the ferry which enables you to get a view of Dafo from the river.

We made our way to the ferry point but there didn't seem to be any ferries, just a speed boat for which they wanted a ridiculous amount of money. We had to get the local bus back into the town centre, over the river. There were a couple of boats here. We haggled with the first woman but decided her speedboat was too expensive so went to the next ferry, which we just missed. Back to the first lady and her boat had left. She said the ferry left more often but would take 40 minutes. We began to get worried about missing the last bus back to Chengdu but we weren't going to come all this way and miss the opportunity to see the big fella. We got a ferry and waited for it to fill up before they would leave. Lots of clock-watching and nervousness. A big tour group got on and bumped up the numbers so then we were off. The Buddha really is huge - an amazing structure and an awe-inspiring sight.

The trip only took about 15 minutes so we knew we'd be able to make the last bus home. We jumped in a taxi to the bus station and had time to spare.

On arrival back in Chengdu, the bus went to a different bus station than the one we'd started from. It was pitch black and there were taxi drivers chasing the bus as it pulled in. We had no idea where we were! We walked around the bus stops until we found one showing a number we recognised as passing near our street and jumped on the next bus.

We were back late and didn't head out to dinner until just before 10pm. It had been a long day. All the restaurants near our hostel were closed or closing. Luckily, we poked our noses into one that was also just about to shut and the lady called us in. The staff didn't speak any English and there was no menu. They recognised the word "chicken" and then 2 ladies took Orla off to the back of the restaurant to choose vegetables. Orla didn't recognise half the veg and we didn't know what we were getting anyway, so we managed to communicate for them to choose for us. We sat down and waited to see what would arrive.

Out came a big metal dish of soup, split down the middle. One side was red-coloured spicy rocket fuel, the other side milder, brown soup. This was placed on a stove in the middle of the table and boiled using a gas canister underneath the table. They also brought out plates of vegetables, which they showed us we needed to add. Then they sat and watched.

Darryl used the ladle to fish out some soup. There was plenty of chicken, including a foot!! It looked black and horrible! We were all a bit startled, which the watching staff laughed at. They gestured for us to eat it. We were too chicken (ha ha!) but Darryl gave it a go. He nibbled at it but said there was no meat and it was pretty vile. Overall though, the hotpot was delicious and really cheap too!


The 16th October, Steve's birthday, the 3 of us caught a bus to Qingcheng Shan mountain. It took us 3 hours to walk to the top of the mountain, via Taoist temples. It was a lovely walk through the trees but it was hot and foggy, so we couldn't see much of the view from the top. We thought it was quite a difficult climb up hundreds of steps but there were workers carrying enormous backpacks, 1 of them carrying slabs of stones for repairing the walkways. Don't know how they do it.

At the temple at the top of the mountain, there was a man selling padlocks which he could engrave with your name and the date. If you attached them to the fence near statues representing health, happiness, longevity, etc, they are supposed to bring luck. We had 2 padlocks engraved and think we attached them to happiness but the little man was quite hard to understand so we weren't really sure. He seemed pleased with our choice anyway, so we think we did ok.

We sat and had a pot of tea and some Chinese ladies at the next table gave us some oranges.

We got the cable car back down the mountain and had to get a small boat across a lake, then the local bus was waiting, ready to take us back to Chengdu.

We had booked flight tickets for Lijiang through a company called 'e-long' and they were delivering them to our hostel at about 7pm. Steve waited in reception while Orla went to get a shower. The tickets turned up on time, so when Orla got back, Steve went to have a shower. An hour later, Orla and Darryl were still waiting for him. Steve had stopped off in a hair salon for what he thought would be a quick haircut. Not in China! First, they washed his hair, then a man meticulously cut it, then he had his hair re-washed and conditioned whilst lying on a vibrating, massage bed, then his head was massaged, followed by an upper-back and neck massage. This would have continued but Steve noticed Orla walking passed, going on a search for him, so told them he had to leave. Even then, they wouldn't let Steve go without having blow-dried his hair! And all this for 1 pound!

That evening, we went for dinner in another local restaurant. The food tasted good but we noticed (after we had ordered!) that there were cockroaches running around everywhere.


The next day, we got up early again to go to the Panda Research Centre to catch the pandas at their liveliest (we read that they fall asleep at 10am). It was great to see them eating and playfighting. They were much more active than we expected. Orla took a great movie clip on the camera of them scrapping with each other. One tried to escape by climbing into a tree but the branch bent and he dropped back in a heap onto the floor. He wasn't hurt and it was very funny. We also saw tiny baby pandas in a panda intensive care unit and red pandas, which look totally different to the other pandas. They look more like foxes. One was very skittish and kept jumping at a worker who was in the enclosure trying to clear leaves. The worker kept shouting at him but he carried on playing and again, it was very funny to see.

We left the centre and headed to the Wenshu temple for lunch. We had read there was a great vegetarian restaurant within the temple walls. It was very busy when we got there, full of monks, so they wouldn't let us in for an hour. We went for a cup of green tea, then went back at half 1. It was still busy so we shared a big round table with 4 Chinese women, who immediately made a fuss over us and insisted we share their food. We ordered our own but didn't really need it after the amount the ladies gave us. Strangely, the menu had loads of meat dishes on it. Odd for a vegetarian restaurant, we thought. However, when our food arrived, we realised the chicken and pork weren't really chicken and pork, they were some sort of substitute. It was very tasty though.

That evening, we said goodbye to Darryl and caught a 19:50 flight to Lijiang.

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Photos

Our VIP Room
1st day in Chengdu and we could get used to this!

Another Goddess?!
Walking around Dafo complex

Dafo in all his glory!
Taken from a boat on the river - the only way to see the Big Buddha!

Qingcheng Shan
Early days and the spirits are high, only another 4,000 steps to go!

Got enough to carry?!
This poor guy was carrying all this up the mountain!

Etching Orla and Steve's padlocks
Our good luck charm.

Chengdu Panda Research Centre
Couple of Pandas having a scratch and stretch after being let out of their accommodation.

Orla and Panda
Who's the more tired out of these two?!