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Published: April 8th 2015
This morning I was determined to sleep in. It didn't happen. I was wide awake at 6 am and ready for action. My bed at Wenjun Mansion Hotel was so comfy though that I decided to stay put just a little longer. After a shower in our honeymoon bathroom, a wall made from frosted glass does not make you feel private and secluded!
We had breakfast at the hotel as it was a buffet style with coffee at a very reasonable rate. Then we set off down the lovely traditional looking street outside the hotel to find and use our first Chinese ATM. I felt rich withdrawing thousands of notes! Unfortunately it was Yuan and not dollars. I am quite sure that it will go a long way though.
We met our local guide Jay and headed off to Huang Longxi What an amazing place. It was completely devoid of western tourists. Only local Chengdu people make there way to this old river port that dates back hundreds of years. There were three temples, one of which was 600 years old. Next to the temple was a 600 year ld tree covered in red ribbons
where people would pray. The town is around a stream that is the shape of a dragon. The tail of the dragon is where the stream meets the river. At the junction, there is a bell with red ribbons to make a wish for safe travels as when they left, the did not come back. The town was a mix of beautiful old architecture and modern consumer goods. All contrasted but traditional Chinese food and traditional methods of making food.
You could buy a whole range of snack food on a stick. We saw scorpion, cicadas, corn, grasshopper, corn and deep fried ice cream that strangely didn't melt. There were people making tofu and noodles by hand and a whole range of cakes and biscuits milled, beaten with a mallet and cooked. It was a fantastic place to visit. There was also a shop that rented costumes to be worn for photo shoots around the old town too. All the young ladies wore a crown of flowers around their head, Apparently it's a great place to date or to meet a young man or young lady. We tried a kind of donut that had a warm peanut
middle as well as a warm pear and honey tea. I bought a few little souvenir things as we'll.
What we didn't buy was the service of someone to use, what looked like a giant pair of tongs as well as a team of little brushes to clean out my ears. They were determined to clean one of our ears but it was not going to be me… I am sure that they are using the same brush for all people.
After a $10 coffee (I must stick to tea) we headed back to the van to go to Leshan and visit the giant buddha. In Leshan, there is about 5 million people (A chinese village really). Leshan is home to a lot of chemical manufacturing and are highly polluted. Much of the polluted factories have been moved from Chengdu to Leshan.
We have decided that the best way to see the buddha is by boat as the buddha is at the junction of 3 rivers. BUilt there so that boats that sailed past would have a safe journey. The giant buddha is 170m tall and carved into the side of the mountain.
It is the last remaining of it's kind. The others were destroyed by the Taliban in the Middle East. This is the first and the last one. The biggest in the world. It was enormous. We went on a boat, put on our life jackets that were as useful as a chocolate teapot and headed out to look. It was very impressive. It only survived the cultural revolution because the locals covered it with vegetation. Or so the story goes.
After our boat ride we went through the town/city of Leshan to the local market. So many spices and great smells. We came across a kind of tutoring session where kids were practicing calligraphy. They were amazing. I asked if Noelene could have a go too and she did a great job for a newby.
We drove the last 30minutes to Emei Shan and booked into our hotel, the Happy Hotel! These poor ladies carried our bags up 5 flights of stairs. Time for a glass of wine before experiencing our first ever kung fu show.
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Trish
non-member comment
Anything onna stick!
Glad to see you are having a great time - including being able to eat anything that can be skewered that we consider a pest! That Buddha is incredible. Can't wait for the next instalment :)