Blogs from Chengdu, Sichuan, China, Asia - page 111

Alrighty, I finally made it here after flights which left my left butt in nonworking condition. Somewhere over Russia I started doing lunges down the ailes for fear that I was going to lose use of my legs. Everyone kept telling me not to worry, everyone will speak english and be really friendly to you. Maybe that would be the case if i was six feet tall and blonde, but I'm a Japanese guy in China who speaks hood engrish. Seriously though, my first day here i didn't hear a lick of english, and let me tell you it's a different, very different world. Chengdu is freakin hot, like ATL hot and sticky. I thought I would wander around and see the city but that was complicated by two details... 1. Chengdu has 11 million people, ... read more

We left the hotel at 930am for the three minute walk to the train station, finding the correct waiting room crowds of commuters are smaller than in the larger Chinese cities. We boarded the train just before 10am after walking straight to the front of the queue and passing through the entrance gate first, it was then a matter of finding our carriage on what is quite a long train, there were at least 16 double story carriages. We have purchased hard seat tickets costing Y73($16) for this seven hour section of our journey and the upright seats are in fact very hard and uncomfortable and the carriage is cramped and full of sick people. The boy opposite me is snorting & snuffling and not putting his hand over his mouth when he coughs he is ... read more