Chengdu – meeting Mr. Panda

The train from Xi’an to Chengdu was much better than that from Wuhan to Xi’an, mainly because we were the first stop and our beds had not been slept in. J The cabin was also spotless (until I dropped a bag of tomatoes on the floor from the top bunk, but I did pick them all up again). The top bunk though – you get barely any headroom compared to the bottom or middle bunks, so try to avoid this if you’re doing the same thing in future. The bottom bunk is good if you’re at the first departure point, but I think on balance the middle bunk is best, as at least people don’t try and sit on your bed when you stand up!

Chengdu is a bit of a grey, misty city, and for a moment we thought it would be Wuhan all over again – but it turns out you can’t generalise grey, misty cities as murky, miserable cities, since Chengdu is actually a brilliant place to stop for a few days. Apart from (obviously) the Pandas (which I’ll get onto later), Chengdu is a fast-growing city with a subway system that continues to evolve, plus a host of shopping centres and high-rises popping up like rabbits all around the city’s core. This urban sprawl isn’t offensive though, as Chengdu is charming and still keeps its parks at its heart – People’s Park is particularly lovely (near to central Tianfu Square) and there is plenty of greenery lining the streets. 

Tianfu Square is an almost-finished central space with a fantastic Yin and Yang design that you have to see from high up to truly appreciate (we checked this out from the food court in a neighbouring shopping centre). It also has an imposing statue of Chairman Mao on one side, overlooking the square (which may explain the police presence, though we’re hoping they were just stopping people from entering the parts under construction). Once the square is finished and filled with people, it will be amazing, though for now it is just on the verge of being great. 

 

People’s Park is a peaceful maze of plants, trees and stone bridges, surrounding a boating lake and overflowing with teahouses. We visited one where I enjoyed the Jasmine tea (lovely!), while Bradley tried the Green tea (not bad…) and we resisted the urge to have our ears cleaned. The implements employed by the ear cleaners looked way too sharp and pointy for me to let them near my ear drums! But it was quite entertaining to watch some of the locals indulging in some ear-cleaning, and pulling some pained faces.

You can while away a whole day by the lake, drinking tea, especially as they bring you a full thermos of hot water to enjoy your tea to the full. Incidentally, we watched the Chengdu episode of ‘Paul Merton in China’ the other day and he went to the same teahouse as us – it made us quite nostalgic to see it again! He also opted not to have his ears cleaned…

As well as relaxing in People’s Park, you can join the locals for some dancing – if you know the moves! It’s great to think that the Chinese are willing to just throw themselves into this public, social dance on a weekend – I just can’t imagine this happening back home, and it feels like a bit like the Buffy musical episode to me (where a spell causes people to burst into song and dance). I would love to live somewhere where you could just join in something like this in a nearby park without feeling like an idiot (no, really, I would). Who knows, maybe New Zealand is that relaxed and unreserved…

The big sight that Chengdu is famous for is obviously the Pandas.

The Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base is 12km outside Chengdu and you can’t really turn around in Chengdu without seeing signs of Panda souvenirs (even our hostel is called ‘Mr Panda’). When we arrived at the Panda Base we were delighted to find that it is a brilliant reserve, with lots of scientists working to conserve Pandas and help them to breed successfully, to increase Panda numbers while giving them plenty of space and excellent care. There was a great film explaining the work of the Panda Base (we even heard David Attenborough’s dulcet tones on a voiceover, which was very reassuring) and there are several nurseries on the site for both Giant Panda babies and Red Panda babies. The baby pandas are so tiny, considering how big they grow! They start life at around 1kg in weight, which feels like nothing. They look like naked mole rats until they start to grow more than a fluff of fur. Even at three months, they are still pretty dependent, and it can be several months before they are gambolling about playfully in the great outdoors. 

There are more challenges than we realised to breed pandas… not only are there problems getting pandas to breed successfully due to short windows of opportunity (pandas are in heat for a very short period of time), but it seems that first time mothers are not always that maternal! We saw an alarming video of a new mother pawing at her newborn cub before it could even stand, so the breeders have plenty of challenges on their hands! After their first cub though, the pandas seem to get the hang of it, and become very cute with their little ones. 

As well as Giant Pandas, those recognisable black and white behemoths, they also breed Red Pandas, which look like a cross between a fox and a raccoon (and are much more their size, too). We didn’t realise this until we arrived, and it was great to see the cheeky Red Pandas darting about through the trees! (check out the 'scent marking' at the end of the video below!).

While watching the Red Pandas, we heard possibly the funniest declaration by an incredibly loud American couple next to us - the man turned to his partner and said in a loud drawl, 'Tell me honey, did you ever hold a real panda bear?' Considering that everyone was supposed to be quiet so as not to disturb the pandas, and they were actually shaking things to make the pandas 'do' something and throwing sticks into the enclosure, we felt it was perfectly acceptable to be both annoyed and entertained by that statement. We did however have to walk away quickly because we were laughing too much. 'Tell me honey, did you ever hold a real panda bear' is now our Chengdu catchphrase!

On our way out of the reserve, we noticed a sign asking for comments and suggestions - Bradley wanted to put 'More pandas'! :)

It was such a lovely place to spend a day and even though it was a bit rainy and misty, it was a real highlight of our trip so far.

The next day we visited the Wenshu Temple and Monastery, one of the best temples we have seen so far as it seemed so genuinely loved (it probably helped that monks were in training here).

We even saw some of the monks off-duty, playing table tennis! J There were several golden buddhas of course, but the buildings were also particularly beautiful, with fresh paintwork and some striking calligraphy across the doorways.

The last big site to see before we left Chengdu was the Grand Buddha in Leshan. We thought we’d seen plenty of big buddhas after Thailand, but this was something else! The Grand Buddha is carved into the cliffside next to the river in Leshan, and is the largest buddha statue in the world, as well as being the largest pre-modern statue still in existence. Apparently the statue took 90 years to build because they ran out of funding part way through… one monk was alleged to be so passionate about the project, he gouged out his eyes as a sign of dedication to the cause in order to encourage donations!


The queues at the Grand Buddha were ridiculous, but we soon realised why we were better off being patient and part of a lengthy line of people. Once you enter the cliffside walkway to experience the Grand Buddha from top to bottom, the path becomes very narrow and no matter how few people are allowed through at once, the crowds can be quite overwhelming as you descend the walkway. Things get a little better once the path narrows to single file, as there really isn’t anywhere to push forward (though one man still found a way to edge past me!) The views of the Buddha as you head down are quite spectacular – to put his size into perspective, his ears alone are longer than the height of the average human being, so he is pretty darn tall! When we finally made it to the bottom there was plenty of room to get some photos, before heading back up the cliffside to explore the rest of the area.

There are several other viewing points from which you can view the top half of the Buddha, plus some caves and temples dotted around this ancient site.

We took a walk across a fantastic fantasy of a bridge and out to the distant Wuyou Temple, which had a great view of the river (even though it was another misty day) and was unique in our temple visits so far by being full of potted plants! It looked very pretty and it was a shame to have to rush off and not explore it more thoroughly, but we had a bus to catch. Leshan is a bit of a trek from Chengdu and we needed to get back anyway, plus the buses didn’t run all that late and the trip was a popular one!

It was our last night in Chengdu so we decided to find somewhere yummy for dinner, and got pretty lucky with a small restaurant near our hostel. We’ve had some hit and miss meals in places like this, as usually you’re ordering from a photo menu and hoping that what looks good in the photo tastes good in reality – and often, the meal you are presented with looks nothing like the one you expected anyway! But this time we filled up on spicy pork and green beans, and some chicken dish that we’re not quite sure of, but at least the meat was recognisable J

Next stop, Chongqing!

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Xi’an – sitting pretty in the centre of China

 

The night train from Wuhan was a lot less fun than the one from Shanghai to Huangshan. The first problem presented itself immediately – we were getting on a sleeper train at a stop partway through the journey, and someone had already slept in our beds! We didn’t expect luxury of course, and it probably should have occurred to us that this might happen at some point, but regardless it was a nasty surprise. Fortunately, our predecessors hadn’t made too much mess to the beds… but the floor of the carriage was disgusting, with squashed food, castaway nuts, and ‘pot noodles’ (the ubiquitous Chinese train food, and supermarket fast food option, the pot noodle with mystery meat flavourings is consumed everywhere with free hot water). Pot noodle packaging is one thing, but a half empty pot of leftover slop is something else – we prayed the train wouldn’t lurch too much. 

Despite the living quarters (and the increasingly sorry state of the train toilets) we finally got there after 15 hours – I’d fashioned a pillow cover from a jumper so felt relatively clean. The station was immense, and people spilled out into the massive station square – we’re not quite sure why everyone was outside rather than inside, but can only assume that it was too busy in the station.  Bradley had to go scouting for our bus stop as it was too hectic to crawl through the crowds with our backpacks strapped on, and after a good twenty minutes we found it (hidden to the side of the station, but fairly nearby at least). Our hostel was within easy reach of our bus stop – or it would have been, if the driver had let us off the bus! Unfortunately, she decided that it would be much more entertaining to make us walk, and whizzed the doors shut just as we reached them. Oh well! So off we piled at the next stop (miles away) where we decided to get the Metro back a stop to our hostel.

The Xiangzimen YHA is a pretty stunning place to stay – it has plenty of traditional Chinese features, and the rooms are all beautifully equipped. There was also plenty of space to work and relax, including a quiet TV room where we hardly ever saw anyone, and we spent a lot of our working and writing time up there. The wi-fi was almost always brilliant, so it was a great place to be for what ended up being 11 nights!

Near to the hostel, there is an area just north of the Drum Tower called the Muslim Quarter, where the streets are filled with local butchers chopping up meat in the street, and there are a huge number of street stalls selling everything from mini Terracotta Warriors to dried fruit to bootleg DVDs. 

 There are also several small mosques, plus The Great Mosque. The Muslim Quarter was busy, friendly and we spent several hours over the next few days ducking in to buy some fresh bread, or to sample some yummy pastry. 

The Great Mosque is hidden off a particularly touristy street, and is well worth the search. It’s an active mosque so there are areas you cannot visit during services, but the courtyards are amazing and it is one of the most peaceful places we have found in China – all surrounded by one of the busiest, most frenetic places we’d been! 

There are several much-loved cats on the premises, and the buildings are a wonderful combination of Chinese and Islamic architecture. This thriving and friendly part of Xi’an has been one of the most welcoming areas we have visited so far.

 

The following day, we decided to walk the formidable City Walls (not quite the Chichester wall walk!). 

The circuit takes four hours to complete, and as it is an exposed walk and it was a hot sunny day, it was pretty sweltering up there! Several people opted to cycle the walls (you could hire bikes for about £4) and we actually saw more people doing that than walking. 

 

The walk is pretty pleasant – there are three gates on each side (it is a big square) and as the walls are so high up above the city, you can see some amazing views of each quarter, both inside and outside the walls. 

One sad story about the walls though – we met a lovely girl called Diana in our hostel, who decided to take a bike for a spin round the walls one day. She was having an amazing ride, rushing across the granite slabs, when she skidded and fell off at high speed. BUT even though there were plenty of people around, nobody stopped to check she was ok – even though she was laying there for a while in shock! We’ve had mixed experiences of the helpfulness of Chinese people on this trip, but that was a big surprise to us. It certainly put us off considering a return to the wall for the experience by bike!

 

The next day was a work day, but we had time to visit the Xi’an Museum in the morning first. There is a brilliant map in the basement showing the old city walls and how the city would have looked with the original walls in place, and as is often the case in China’s museums there were some great bronze  and porcelain pieces and some beautiful (if a little meaningless to us!) Chinese calligraphy.

In the grounds of the museum we also found the Little Goose Pagoda, and some fantastic gardens. Not bad for a short day!

 Now it was time for the big sight in Xi’an – the Terracotta Warriors. We took a straightforward bus out of the city, and an hour later we were deposited at the gates of the site (who needs an expensive tour?).

The Terracotta Warriors are a bizarre sight and concept – a whole terracotta army hidden underground and only discovered in the 1970s when a well was being dug – and that initial discovery presented new insight into China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, and his beliefs in the afterlife.






It is unclear whether he built the army to protect him in the afterlife or to lead the army into the afterlife… but popular opinion suggests that the army was created so that he could continue his rule after he died. Either way this seems quite a lot to ask of your people – to build you a faux army.

The Terracotta Warriors archaeological site is divided into three ‘pits’ – pit 3 is the smallest, going up to pit 1, the largest. Every guide we read recommended seeing them in ascending order of size, so we started with pit 3, and were pretty impressed. There were lots of clearly excavated soldiers standing ready. Pit 2 felt a little disappointing after this – it was much bigger, but the excavation was less complete and there were plenty of holes with not much to show for themselves. However, surrounding pit 2 there were several intact models showing different army personnel that had been extracted from pit 2, e.g. an archer and a senior ranking official.

Finally, we went into pit 1 and… well, you really do need to see this last for the full impact. There were row upon row of soldiers, it is quite impossible to imagine the work that must have been involved to create, and then to obscure this army (the entire army was covered, ready to mobilise when needed). This is an incredible find and will be keeping archaeologists busy for some time!

An interesting conversation later arose back at the hostel – several people were discussing (over a beer or two of course) a conspiracy theory that perhaps the site had been ‘faked’ to attract tourists. The cynics! I don’t subscribe to this, merely thought that the Terracotta Warriors must have their place in history secured now that they even have a conspiracy attached to them. Not that they need a better story, but there’s nothing like a good conspiracy theory!

We’ve been in China for approaching a month now, and this meant a return to visa fun as we sought to extend our visa for another month. We agonised over the paperwork, prepared the perfect package of supporting evidence to prove that we were respectable tourists and we had both money and travel insurance, and approached the Public Security Bureau with trepidation – only to have our forms stamped promptly, pay our money within minutes, and be told without further ado to collect our renewed visa in five working days. Completely straightforward! We did ask if there was any way to get this processed faster (pay for an express service as we had in Bangkok) but we backed off as soon as she started to get the impression we were trying to bribe her! Apparently it is five days no matter who you are or how much money you have, so we accepted this – it just meant an extra day on top of the ten days we had already allowed to stay here. That’s a long time in one place, no matter how much you like it! At least it wasn’t Wuhan – Xi’an is possibly the nicest place we’ve been so far, and our hostel is the nicest place we’ve stayed, so we really couldn’t complain. 

While we were in the south of town near the PSB, we headed to the Big Goose Pagoda to have a look around. The pagoda itself is quite shabby looking, but it has some pretty gardens and lakes nearby, though some terribly touristy streets on the periphery! Although we appreciate that big sights will attract tourist trappings, it is still sad to see the soul ripped out of some places in the bigger cities. I think this is why at heart we always prefer the sights in the countryside, why we love New Zealand so much, and areboth so drawn to the coast – there is always somewhere to look where you can block out the civilised world and just appreciate what is before you, without being flogged a jade Buddha or prayer beads.

The next few days were pretty uneventful, as we had decided to make the most of our lovely hostel and have a restful few days. It has been pretty non-stop so far and every now and again you need a real weekend! The Saturday and Sunday were spent mooching about the local shops, eating at the local restaurants, and not venturing far from home at all. We Skyped our families, including a lovely catch up with Mike and Gill after their European holidays (longest Skype ever!) and tried even more great dishes at the nearby food court (the shopping mall by the Bell Tower has a great food court at bargain prices, though we’ve been eating plenty of street food too!). Unfortunately, our last few days in Xi’an were beset by rain (something we’ve not seen much of so far!) and that meant the rest of the week was a bit of a washout… so by the time we got to our last night we were ready to leave! At least it rained when we were supposed to work, but even so… All this rest did at least allow me to heal my nasty bug bites, and I’m starting to look human again, hurrah!

So in summary, Xi’an was fantastic, the Terracotta Warriors might be faked (though they looked pretty real to us), and we’ve got another month in China. Yes!

PS. We’re probably not listening to enough music, but for Sarah, Matt and Mike: I’ve been listening to your mix tape Sarah (but foolishly packed the cards into storage! Please could you email me the tracklist?). But I love it so far and can’t wait to share my favourites with you. I’ve also been listening to Shellac in preparation for virtual attendance at the Nightmare Before Christmas! We also listened to the Dark Side of the Moon the other night Dad – you would be proud J

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Wuhan – where nothing good really happened

We arrived in Wuhan slightly crazed from a ‘seven’ hour bus journey (i.e. it took nine hours). That was most of our day gone by the time we pitched up at our hostel, so we checked in, and headed straight out for dinner in a nearby restaurant (one dish was amazing – the other a mystery that we decided to leave unsolved). Pausing to stock up on basic supplies (water and snacks) at the local supermarket, we headed back for a fairly early night.

The next day was a work day, so we spent the morning and early afternoon booking trains for our trip to Xi’an the next night, and accommodation for our arrival in Xi’an, before settling down to a hard day at the office. The hostel had a great common room area and brilliant wi-fi, so we found a quiet corner and had a really productive day. Only… aggressive, nibbling creature s (mossies? Who knows) decided to attack me covertly, and the next day I woke up with both legs covered in bites and blisters. Grim! As we set out to explore Wuhan properly for the day, they were driving me crazy. Trying to ignore them as best I could, we headed into Wuhan by bus, passing the Yellow Crane Tower (which looked very impressive but sadly we ran out of time to visit it). 

We jumped off the bus and started walking toward the Guijuan Temple (further than we thought, but it was good exercise!) and when we got there found a fairly interesting temple with over 500 statues in one hall, and a bewildering array of gold-coated Buddhist figures (all different, and some quite angry and imposing-looking!) surrounding the walls of another hall. 

Another rather attractive feature were the courtyard pools filled with turtles and fish (just like in Shanghai) though this time the turtles were able to bask in the sun/shade on two enormous lotus flower sculptures. 

One sad sight though was watching four turtles feasting on one of the dead turtles in the pool, pulling at its legs (its head had already vanished…) and behaving quite aggressively. I hope this doesn’t suggest that they are underfed, as this temple is also supposed to be a turtle sanctuary, and turtles in China already have a raw deal. Apparently some of the turtles here are over 300 years old – so have historical as well as biological value!

After leaving the temple, we walked back toward the bridge our bus had crossed earlier, and on the way took a detour down some backstreets where we found a brilliant buffet-style eatery. I’m not quite sure what it all was, but it seemed relatively clean, the food hot, and the place was always busy, so we selected a plateful and stopped for a quick bite. There were some great vegetable dishes, and some non-suspicious meats (pork, mostly), though Bradley inadvertently picked up some liver – urgh! 

We continued through the backstreets to the bridge back to our hostel, and decided we had just enough time to walk across (it was a good thirty minute walk) before we went back to grab our bags and catch our train. 

First off we had to get a lift up to the upper bridge level as it was so high up (book fans – I thought of the Bridge by Iain Banks – it was quite surreal). The bridge is enormous, but well worth the trip - we got a great view of the Yellow Crane Tower (though sadly Wuhan is pretty polluted, so the air was pretty gloomy around it) and the Wuhan skyline, despite the polluted air, was at its best from here.

We witnessed the bizarre sight of loads of locals swimming in the river (it did not look a healthy colour! The Witterings it is not!) and we saw the largest quantity of pick-up trucks that you can fit onto a shipping boat pass beneath us. It reminded me of holidays of holidays to the Norfolk Broads when I was growing up – we used to pile our luggage into the back of my grandparents’ truck while my parents, Mike and I went up in the car. Happy days! 

We had just enough time to stock up on food and drinks for the train journey to Xi’an, before we picked up our stuff, and headed out of Wuhan. Not the most exciting place, and my principle souvenir is a mass of insect bites that are going to seriously dent my fun in Xi’an (and therefore Bradley’s too). Bring on the Jungle Formula!