Chengdu-ing it

Spot the panda

Chengdu - capital of China’s western Sichuan Province and city iconically known for being home to giant pandas and spicy cuisine. Enter Annie and Beth in full tourist mode, seeking to immediately tick these two things off the Chengdu must-do list. I couldn’t possibly come to China without visiting at least once so I made it the first stop on my travels. So, for my first post on my first Spring Festival stop, here are my Chengdu highlights:

一．Hot Pot

The night prior to leaving for Chengdu, I’d spoken to a fellow expat in a bar in Tianjin about the must-do things in the city. His answer: try Sichuan style hot pot. 

Me and Beth about to enjoy hot pot with a new friend

Now, I’m partial to a good hot pot. In the winter climate of Northern China, hot pot is the perfect meal to enjoy to ward off chilly winds but according to this guy at the bar, Sichuan hot pot was (in his words) “melt your face off” spicy.

“First, you think you can take it, and then your lips start to tingle. And then you can’t feel your lips. Then, come the sweats as your tongue feels like it’s about to explode. You’ve probably swallowed one of those sneaky peppercorns as you feel your face about to set on fire.”

Boy, did this guy paint a picture. Now, I’m by no means a spice wuss, but he did scare me a little about the level of spice I might have to face if I tried a genuine Sichuan hot pot. Not enough though – it was one of the first things Beth and I did on our first night in Chengdu. We ventured to Shu JiuXiang Hot Pot Restaurant (蜀九香) in WuHou District near where we were staying. We were assured it was the type of place that stayed open late and offered top notch food.

Having never actually ordered hot pot on our own before, we did a pretty decent job. Our waitress was also pretty helpful with giving us tips on the best combinations for our dipping sauce. We left with full-stomachs but were not quite content with the level of spice we ordered. It wasn’t quite the “melt your face off” experience we were looking for and so the search continued.

On other nights, we tried our hand at spicy noodles yet we were still not satisfied. It was only until our last night when we were taken to a hot pot place upon the experience of a new friend we made on the bus back from Leshan that we got the closest to ‘melting our faces off’. Between us all, we ordered two spice levels of soup base. Sure it was hot but I have to admit I didn’t have tears streaming from my eyes like I thought I might. The food and service was still amazing though and we were even treated to a mini Sichaun Opera mask changing performance which was great fun. I guess the search goes on for a tear-inducing spicy Sichuan hot pot though…

二．People’s Park

On our first full day in Chengdu, our itinerary was entirely open. Maybe it was the chilled out vibe of Chengdu that made us feel quite easy-going about what to do in the city but neither Beth nor I felt like doing anything too strenuous. We spent a good portion of the day in the People’s Park because a guy I was chatting to over Tinder had recommended it as the best place to chill out and grab a relaxing cup of tea at one of the many teahouses.

Obviously I can’t just skip over the fact that I’ve casually dropped in my use of Tinder in this post, but bear with me as I hark back to my summer travels in Japan last year to explain why it’s relevant to mention. I did a solo trip to Japan last summer to visit a good university friend of mine who was, like I am this year, teaching English in Northern Japan. I stayed in a traveller friendly hostel in Tokyo and really enjoyed talking to the stream of backpackers that came and went every day. One guy from Canada particularly stuck out to me though.

“Do you know what’s really good for travelling?” he said. “Tinder.”

“It’s really good for talking to people about what to do wherever you are.”

I remember rolling my eyes and instantly dismissing his comments. Sure mate. It’s definitely nothing to do with the fact you want to pick up a pretty Japanese girl. Of course you’re “looking for tips”…

I have to take that all back though. I’ve found Tinder a really good source for local knowledge and tips for the best things to do and see in any given city. I’d genuinely recommend it as an alternative to looking up stuff to do on Tripadvisor etc. This little anecdote becomes even more relevant towards the end of this post too but that’s another story. As I said, a Tinder tip I received told us to go to the People’s Park and it was a good choice to make.

The sassiest Chinese dance couple in all of the People’s Park

We really enjoyed standing around in the park watching a herd of ‘dancing aunties’ and old Chinese couples break out the moves in a kind of public park strictly come dancing show. We even got involved at one point in a Chinese Zumba style class (although Beth was far more adept at picking up the moves than I was).

I always find it quite incredible that so many people of the older generation in China are such incredible dancers. They’re just so co-ordinated and perform the dances effortlessly. The old couples did take breaks between some dances to catch their breath, but it was also very sweet to have stood on the side lines and watched as old men invited other women sitting on the edges for another cheeky dance.

I couldn’t take my eyes off one couple in particular though. Both nailed every single move and you could see all the other couples around looking over their shoulders for a brief second as they commanded the floor. The woman in particular with her long, butterfly printed velvet maxi skirt just oozed sass. Talk about dance couple goals.

Yep, enjoyed hot chrysanthemum tea through a straw…

It was a lovely little walk around the park itself. Chengdu was just so chilled. We sat down for some tea in one of the teahouses and spent some time people watching. Locals simply enjoying tea as they read the newspaper. Groups of old men getting worked up over their card games. Families with several generations spending time together, grandmas cuddling their adorable baby grandchildren. Here I also discovered how delicious chrysanthemum tea is. It was a random choice to have made in the first place and I can’t deny that I didn’t get it because I knew it’d look pretty but it’s now become one of my favourite teas. 

(*Note to self:- track some down now you’re back in Tianjin.)

三．Pandas

Day two in Chengdu and we went into full tourist mode when we headed to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. We bought some panda ears and wore them pretty much all day. We took a tonne of photos, attempting to get the best selfies with the pandas. It was harder than it sounds because the pandas were for the most part snoozing away and pretty inactive. For the ones that were awake, it was a bit of a battle with all the other Chinese tourists who also wanted photos. But you really can’t complain. Pandas are just too cute, whether they’re asleep or not.

I did enjoy letting my inner biology geek loose too. Reading about genetic diversity and the use of studbooks in one of the little museums reminded me of my school days revising for biology exams. Kiri - if you’re reading this, I’m sure if you were with you, you’d have found some awful biology related joke to tell.

There’s a section of the park dedicated to giving more information about what the pandas eat at the reserve and how it’s prepared. You can even try a sample of panda bread! But for the record, panda bread isn’t that great to eat and you should probably leave it up to them...

So there we have it – another thing ticked off the list must-do in Chengdu list. Although I hadn’t realised it until recently, this was the third time in my life I’ve actively gone out of my way to visit some pandas so it’s not like I got some special feeling seeing them for the first time. But you simply cannot go to Chengdu without paying a visit to the research base. You just gotta Chengdu-it (sporting panda merchandise not compulsory, but highly recommended).

四．Leshan Grand Buddha 

One of the other main tourist attractions in Chengdu is the Leshan Giant Stone Carved Buddha . I hadn’t actually known much about it before actually getting to Chengdu but I do think it’s worth the hour or so bus ride out of the city to go and visit.

 Somehow managing to make my head look a similar size to the Giant Buddha

The Leshan Grand Buddha is the largest stone carved Buddha statue in the world and amazingly, was carved into a cliffside during the Tang Dynasty. From above, the Grand Buddha is indeed impressive but you can't really get the full impact of the statue itself until you reach the bottom. Amongst the swarms of other tourists, you've got to precariously walk down some steep steps to reach the foot of the statue. Then it takes a lot of craning your neck to take it all in.

Smaller than Buddha's little toe

There's something a little off putting about that fact that you're actually a lot smaller than merely one of the toes of the statue (there's something I'd never thought I'd say), but you've got to give it to the monks who decided to complete this project thousands of years ago - if you're going to make a Buddha statue, make it a good one. 

五． Jin Li Street

So there are lots of other key things to see and do in Chengdu including a visit to the giant Chairman Mao monument outside the Sichuan Science Technology Museum, hanging out by Tianfu Square or doing other day trips to visit Emei Shan (the only other thing I wish we had time to do), but my last key highlight was Jin Li Street.

It’s not unlike lots of other pedestrianised streets in major Chinese cities. Feels a bit like traditional Chinese hutongs, is still very touristy as streets are lined with stalls attempting to sell you souvenirs and things you probably don’t need. That said, I still enjoyed the buzz of Jin Li Street in all of its lantern lit glory. It’s easy to get lost in and just take in the chaos amongst the random music that plays from bars and restaurants. It’s also a good place to try out different food from the various stalls. We kept the Chengu panda theme alive with some cream filled panda shaped bao.

Just a quick mention here but as I said earlier in the post, Tinder is a decent tool for a traveller to seek tips about what to do and where to go from people who live locally. I can also say it’s a good tool to discover that it’s, as they say, a small world. Whilst swiping, I unexpectedly came across someone I sort of knew from uni. I literally couldn’t believe it when I came across JKB over Tinder. Despite the perhaps slightly awkward but hilarious circumstances, it encouraged me to get in touch and we managed to organise to go for a quick beer or two by the river on my last night in Chengdu.

JKB is doing amazing things right now cycling around the world. In the space of a year, he’s cycled from the UK to China with the aim of eventually getting to Australia. But there’s no use me telling you about his journey, his website and blog updates do a better job than I ever could. It’s definitely worth checking out for his stories and photos! You can check it out here.

I probably said it out loud a great deal whilst I was there but Chengdu is, much like the pandas we saw lazing around, so freaking chill. It was a good place to begin Spring Festival travels and really ease us in. Next stop though? Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province and what better way to embark on the next part of the journey than taking my first ever sleeper train in China. Total journey time? 22 hours. But more about that next time…