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Claire & Dave's Big Adventure
Sichuan - Home to pandas, Spicy Hotpots and some amazing scenery.
We based ourselves in the Capital of the Province - Chengdu. Our hostel was probably the best we've stopped in so far and that was thanks to the friendly hosts, namely a lovely Chinese man named Jimmy. Jimmy welcomed us with a hug for Dave and a handshake for Claire. Before we had even dropped our bags he said that we looked hungry and demanded we eat. Not at his hostel however, but at the dumpling place down the road which was nicer and cheaper! This, he explained was to...
"You need fuel to recharge energy so enjoy wonderful China. I want you have good time here." Nice.
Our first night in Chengdu we mixed it up with the locals. With being in Sichuan we wanted to sample the speciality cuisine - Sichuan Hot Pot. A big pot of delicious but incredibly hot and spicy broth, where from a fridge you chose your own meat and veg that you wanted to cook and eat...after fumbling our way through, we were then invited to join a table with some of the locals. They had already been laughing and joking with us as we struggled with how long to cook the pork for (believe us, we didn't need any further problems with our already unpredictable digestive systems) and how we avoided anything that resembled chicken feet or brain. We managed to share several bottles of beer and developed a common understanding of just one word. Everytime we finished our small glass of beer one of the men would pour us another, grin and then shout "Cheers!" At this point everyone on the table would drink their beer and laugh at each other. We sat there for an enjoyable 3 hours doing only this, and whilst we could barely speak to each other in Chinese or English, the much more universal language of drinking beer provided us all with a good time! And as we were leaving they wouldn't let us pay a penny (or a Yen) towards the bill. Chengdu had given us a very warm welcome!
Our visit to Sichuan had two main aims. Firstly to see the most famous inhabitants of the area - the giant pandas. And secondly, to visit the famous national park - Jiuzhaigou.
The pandas.
We got up early on our first morning to visit the pandas. Not wanting to pay the extra money for tour guides and tour buses we opted to find our own way there by public bus. This didn't turn out to be the best decision as we missed the bus stop (David's fault apparently) and ended up in the middle of nowhere up a strange backstreet with no clue at all as to where we were. Fortunately we found a taxi who managed to get us there still early enough to beat the masses.
The Chengdu Panda Research Centre is home to nearly 50 giant pandas and red pandas. The main goal of the centre is to research their breeding patterns and encourage lots of panda loving to make lots of panda babies. It's quite a big place, though not that big that you can't walk around easily enough. We weren't surprised to see a large queue forming for the obligatory hop on/off bus that seems to be at all the China attractions. We were lucky to be there early as we got to see the panda cubs and their mothers milling around and having their breakfast. It was great to be so close to them in a large natural enclosure. The pandas seemed so chilled out as they sat around munching their bamboo and occasionally looking out at all the camara pointing tourists. We spent a long time watching various cubs play around before heading over to look at the red pandas. We felt a bit sorry for these guys as they don't get nowhere near as much attention as their black and white cousins. In an effort to show off they spend more time climbing trees and play fighting, but they still didn't manage to attract as much attention as the others.
Towards the end of the morning the sun got hotter and the park got busier. We walked round the adult enclosures but most of the pandas had gone back to their air conditioned rooms to take a nap. We left for lunch as we had no desire to eat at the park's restaurant which sold Panda burgers - very poor taste. They really do eat everything in China. Also as it got busy the tour groups started to arrive and with seeing the crowds follow each other around like sheep in a cattle market we realised that we never wanted join one of these tour groups and as we laughed at the herds we made the decision to do as much in China as independently as possible. We therefore vowed that we would never book on to a Chinese tour group.
The following day we booked straight on to a 3-day Chinese tour group. It was a ************* and we broke our vow within 24 hours, but the value for money demanded it. We wanted to visit the Jiuzhaigou National Park and to do so on our own would have cost a fortune, whereas with the tour we would get a full day there as well as a trip to Huanglong National Park and a couple of other sights as well, all for about half the price and all arranged through our friend Jimmy at the hostel.
The National Parks
The tour itself was...a nightmare. We knew from the start that everything would be Chinese, the guide, the food, the information, everything. Fortunately we weren't alone as another couple from the hostel, John and Lynsey who we had visited the pandas with were also onboard the tour from hell. It would have probably been better if we hadn't been given the most rude, angriest and ignorant person in China for our guide. All the way through, we felt like such a hindrance, we never expected any English from him but perhaps a smile or basic manners would be nice. It was obvious that he was complaining to other members of the group about us and was constantly shouting at us and telling us off (for what we don't know). All this was pointless as when he told us off we couln't understand anyway so we would smile and say one of the few words in Chinese that we knew...
We imagine it translated something like this:
Tour guide - "You stupid English! I said sit on table 4 not table 7. You are all the same, you never listen. How dare you come on my tour and increase my workload ever so slightly. I spit on you all. I hope you get lost in the national park and never come back. Die English *******s."
Us - "Nihao, Xie xie" - "Hello, Thankyou"
Fortunatley there were plenty of lovely people in the group, and some of them spoke excellent English, and agreed the tour gude wasn't very fiendly. Thankfully they were able to translate some of important things for us, such as what time we were leaving and where to meet.
The food on the tour was something else too. Our first meal was a lunch, which was a big bowl of cold rice served with 5 or 6 Chinese veg dishes, all of which were cold, horible and made you feel like vomiting when you tasted them. We knew we weren't being fussy because the Chinese didn't like it either. And considering they eat pig snouts and suck on chicken feet on a daily basis it must have been pretty bad! Oh well, perhaps the evening meal would be better? Nope. The exact same food as lunch. Then unbelievably the exact same for breakfast and every single meal throughout the trip. A constant barrage of cold rice and vomit. Oh how we longed for mutton... It was thanks to a diet of oreos and crisps that got us through the 3 day tour.
The redeeming feature of the tour from hell was definately the National Parks though. Both of which more than made up for the horrible guide and horrible food (we won't discuss the horrible accomodation other than saying it was that. Horrible.).
Huanglong National Park is set in the Southern area of the Minshin Mountain Range. On the way to our main stop we passed over XueShan Ridge (Snow Mountain Ridge) which is one of the highest roads in China at 4007 metres high and gives great views of Xuebaoding (Snow Mountain Peak). Before the ascent to this spot a lady came on the bus selling some altitude sickness medication that all the Chinese bought immediately. We decided we wouldn't need it though, mainly because by the time we had translated what she had been selling she had already got off the bus and we were halfway up the mountain.
Our main stop was at Huanglong Valley (Yellow Dragon Valley). Named after the fact that from a distance the valley looks like a huge dragon snaking through the snow capped mountains. To us it looked like a very nice valley that resembled a very nice valley and not a dragon. The chinese have great imaginations. We caught a cable car to the top of Huanglong Mountain (Yellow Dragon Mountain) that allowed us to walk down a wooden path over 12kms through the valley. The path takes you past coulourful ponds, waterfalls and streams that really is very pretty. It reminded us a lot of a waterfall we saw in Luang Prabang, Laos. It really is a very nice area to walk through other than the fact that the pathway is shared with what felt like the entire population of China. It was so busy from start to finish that it took away some of the beauty and wildness of the place. A constant conveyer belt of people walking down, very slowly much to our annoyance. There were also regular stops offering Oxygen to the weary as again we were close to 4000 metres high. It was still a very enjoyable experience though, and you simply have to remember that most of China is like this. It is a very big country but the 1.3 billion people that live here manage to make it feel crowded.
Jiuzhaigou National Park was the next day and is the more famous of the 2 parks, which worried us a little as it may turn out to be the busier. Fortunatley it's much bigger and whilst it may have been as busy, the people seemed to be more spread out which was nice. Jiuzhaigou literally translates as 'Nine Village Valley' due to the old Tibetan villages that run its length. The village's history states that it was created when a jealous devil caused the goddess Wunosemo to drop her magic mirror, a present from the warlord god Dage. The mirror dropped to the ground and shattered into 118 shimmering turquoise lakes. Although science states that the beutiful lakes are formed due to the valley lying on a major faultline causing various glacial, hyrdological and tectonic activity, we choose to beileve the Chinese story.
The valley splits into 2 paths and here the hop on/off buses are a must, especially if you only have 1 day in the park. We caught the bus to the top of the west fork (Raze Valley) with the intention of walking down. At the top of the fork is a forest that although again had some strange Chinese hitsory to it, it looked pretty much like a forest. Just a load of trees. Following a quick walk in and out of the forest we set off down the path that takes you past a host of lakes and water falls. This was nowhere near as busy as the path at Huanglong and at occasions the path was our own, only busying up at the main lakes lakes or waterfalls that people were hopping on and off the bus at.
The lakes really are stunning. The water is bright blue but transparent enough you can see the bottom at even the very deepest parts. Between the lakes as you walk down there are several waterfalls connecting them. Some are small and hardly noticeable whilst others are huge and fantastic displays.
Each lake and water fall is named after something that it resembles.
Sometimes its obvious.
Mirror Lake - For its clear reflections
Grass Lake - Surrounded by grass
Swan Lake - For the visiting swans
Panda Lake - For the very occasional giant panda that has been seen drinking here
Colourful Lake - Obviously for being so colourful
Long Lake - You get the picture
Some are less obvious -
Arrow Bamboo lake - ?,
Tiger lake - Apparently looks like a sleeping tiger
Tiger Waterfall - Apparently sounds like a roaring tiger
Sleeping Dragon Lake - It wouldnt be Chinese without some reference to a dragon.
All the lakes and all the waterfalls are worth the visit to the park on their own. They are all amazing in their own right and though its a little busy, its not so bad that you can't enjoy them.
Our favourite (and by far the most popular) was no doubt Pearl Shoals and Pearl Waterfall. The shoals are a a wide, gently sloping area of rock covered in a thin sheet of flowing water that lead to the impressive Pearl Waterfalls. This is where the shoals drop into a 40 metre deep 310 metre wide curtain of water.
The trip around the valley was also notable for the feeling of celebrity. Several times we were stopped by Chinese teenagers asking if they could have a photo with us. Not just one, but several from different angles and ensuring that every member of their group got in the action.Bizarre, but we embraced it. Next time we go somewhere like that we're going to take a bodyguard or at the very least charge 5 yen per photo and fund the rest of our trip.
So ultimatley the tour was worthwhile. It saved us money and got us to the park easily enough. It was worth it having to put up with the food and the hostility from the guide, who we later complained about to the hostel. Jimmy wasn't happy.
Sichuan has been an enjoyable adventure. It was nice to meet John and Lynsey who now head in a seperate direction. We had a good time in Chengdu. We stopped up and watched the dissappointing England match which was still a fun night. And now we look on to our final area of China - The Yunnan province and most importantly, our final night train!
Things we have learned
1. Don't go on Chinese tours.
2. There are a lot of people in China.
3. "Ganbei" is "Cheers" in Chinese.
Dave's transport stats
Dave's Transport stats so far:
Planes used - 1
Buses used - 13 (+8)
Trains used - 6
Metros/subways used - 16 (+2)
Cars used - 5 (+2)
Russian Campervans used 1
Horses used - 1
Camels used - 1
Taxis used - 3 (+2)
Cable cars used (+1)
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