Pandas and Spicy Food: Our Adventure Vacation to Chengdu

Now it may seem that we already live in China, but as Greg Yin pointed out, Hong Kong is “Asia lite.” Chengdu, well THAT IS China. So we decided to plan an adventure vacation.  Please understand that “adventure vacation” with a 3 year old (who is potty training) and a 5 year old is not as adventurous as your imagination might think. I don’t want to over promise and under deliver here.

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province. Sichuan is home to 80% of the world’s panda and as you know very spicy food.

We took off from Hong Kong on Saturday April 28^th.  Chengdu is about 2 hours north and west. It is a city of 13 million people. We booked our trip through a travel agent and made sure to book a guide and driver for the trip. Our guide met us at the airport and did not have an plans for that evening.

We stayed at a Chinese 4 star hotel. Now what does that mean?  Well a lot more than you might think. The room was nice and the staff very helpful, especially with the kids.  Where things get noticeably different in the hotel is that probably 70% of the food was Asian and the room smelled vaguely of cigarette smoke. The kids though did find things they liked to eat. But it is funny, our non smoking room smelled a little like my dad’s den.

The other funny thing about the hotel is that TV programming was all Chinese, so where the kids could veg with Nick Jr elsewehere, no such luck.  The only thing was a Chengdu version of it.  Maggie even got so desperate she watched a Chinese opera for about an hour. But all this was secondary since our goal was not to stay inside but get out.

The city itself is somewhat polluted. You can tell in the not so natural haze during the day.  It reminded me of Pittsburgh in the early 1970s.  Not horrible. But there. People say Hong Kong is polluted, but the first thing Katy and I noticed when we returned was how clear the air was here!

The wild thing is that it appears that 50% of the city is under construction and renovation.

On Sunday April 29, we met the guide and driver for our 2 hour drive to Leshan. Leshan is 2 hours south by car. It is home to the largest carved stone Buddha in the world. The Buddha is carved on a cliff face overlooking the rivers. A Chinese Buddhist monastery sits at the top.  It was one of its monks who started the carving.

So Katy and I both thought how will this drive go? Well several years back, the authorities built a modern interstate highway looking highway connecting Chengdu and Leshan. Other than all the signs in Chinese, it looks like any interstate in the US. About half way down, someone had also built a modern rest stop. It is as if someone went to the US, took a picture of an interstate rest stop, brought it back to Changdu and told a contractor, “I want this built.”   I am not complaining. So we had a bathroom break.  Instead of McDonalds and Arby’s, there were Chinese food and beverage stalls. This and movies on the ipads kept everyone happy.

After about 2 hours we made it to Leshan which is a small city(our guide’s description) of several million people. Winding through the city you cross a bridge and head to the foot of the monastery complex.

Did I mention why we chose to go at this time?  Well you see it is the holiday of Buddha’s birthday. And yes going to see the Giant Buddha of Leshan on Buddha’s birthday holiday weekend is like going to Bethlehem or Macy’s for Christmas.

A lot of pilgrims.

Well you have to climb up to the top of the hill where the monastery sits. From up there you can take a winding single set of stairs down from the Buddha’s head to the foot of the carving at the river’s edge, then you guessed it climb back up.  Only way. The line though was about a 2 hour wait to start the walk down.

So…… we decided once we got up to the top to admire the Buddha from the top and walk around the monastery grounds.  They are very impressive.

Nicholas started getting hot and hungry which I know is a very bad combination.  But I spot an ice cream stall. I figure I will buy them an ice cream.  I see what looks like ice cream cones. But the vanilla ice cream and cone are flash frozen together hard.  Just as we get to what appears to be some area of tranquil meditation around a gold fish pond, Nicholas bites the cone wrong, drops the ice cream part and starts crying….loud.  I race back buy another and you guessed it, it happens all over again.  Bite, drop, cry.   Katy calms him down with the 3^rd cone. I figure at this point we are putting on some show for the locals.

Now we already are the only very few westerns we see, so we and especially Maggie and Nicholas are already a curiosity. From my math during the trip 50% of the people actually ask us if they can take a picture with Nicholas and Maggie and 50% will do this:  Maggie is sitting waiting on a street curb.  A young couple comes over to her sits down next to her and smile at her while their friend takes a picture of them with Maggie.  Maggie for her part looks over at the camera and smiles and then tries to politely ignore them.

After about 2 hours of walking the grounds and the temples, we walk down the hill from the monastery and head to the car. The guide finds a local restaurant. It is about 2:30, but she convinces them to serve us lunch. It took us longer at the Buddha than I think she figured. Our guide was great with all the bathroom stops, snacks and stroller.

One note.  Maggie is a super traveler.  She remained unfazed by whatever she found. Squatty potty: no problem. At one point back on the road, she had to go.  The guide said what about on the side.  No problem. Food. No problem.  “I’ll have rice.” What I was so proud of is that she never complained in front of our guide and driver. Never made a scene.

2 hours later we are back in the room.

The next day Monday April 30, we head to the Panda Research Center in Chengdu so the ride is just across town about 30 minutes. The place was amazing and a big hit with Maggie and Nicholas. Not much more to add, we walked around the place and got our pictures taken with the Pandas for a fee. That in itself was remarkable.

Our guide asked us about lunch. Katy and I wanted to try a Sichuan style restaurant. So the guide took us to a nice one. There was a line so we waited. The guide and hostess pointed to a table that was being cleared.  Great I think. But just as I am watching it cleared, a man walks in and sits right down at the empty table. Another person walks in and sits down at another cleared table. I think “what the hell?”  The hostess does not seem willing to start a fight. Our guide finds an older hostess or manager, could not tell who she was, but boy was she upset. She yells, actually yells, at the people who just sat down and clears them out.  Then calms herself.  Tells our guide someone politely in Chinese and walks away.  Our guide turns to us and says, “You can sit down now.”

So Sichuan food.   #1 there is no mild.  #2 they kinda make fun of Hong Kong food: too mild.  Great for Katy and I, not so much for Maggie and Nicholas. Luckily sides such as rice and buns work out. We try and get Maggie and Nicholas to try some of the food. They do. But then we make a Sichuan rookie mistake.  Nicholas tries some food with his hands, then rubs his eyes and starts screaming. Yes he got spicy food in his eye. Katy takes him to the bathroom and luckily washes it out.

But the food in this average Chengdu place was great. Then I realize that I don’t have enough cash for the food.  You see I used most of it for the panda pictures.  I budgeted cash based on one picture. But the charge was for every person in the photo, not the number of photos. Well They say it goes to the foundation that helps the pandas so great.  We also figure where else in the world will they ever let us hold a panda?

No problem our guide says, there is a Bank down the street.  We head down and find the ATM machine. Then the guide does something anyone would do.  She directs me to the ATM then steps far away to give me privacy for the transaction. One problem.  We are in Chengdu, and there is no English option on this ATM. I call her back and she helps me get the cash.

After lunch we head over to an old quarter of Chengdu called Jinli street.  You get a real feel for what old Chengdu must have looked like.  Now it is all shops and a tourist site.  A mass of people and we were the 5 other westerns there. So more photos with the kids. I need to start charging 20 yuan.

After a long day, we head back to the hotel. The next day we head to the airport and back to Hong Kong.  All in all well.  Beijing here we come.

PS. You may be wondering about how it is in The People’s Republic of China in terms of it still being a communist country. The interesting thing I have found is that you never notice it, everything seems normal, until you wander into a political topic of conversation.  What I found is everyone is very careful to speak their minds on anything political.  It even seems to make people uncomfortable; to such an extent I have decided to stay away from those topics.  That is when you realize it. It is so different from Hong Kong.

Our room had all these mirrors on the walls even in the shower. Very odd right.  Well the rumor is that is how the secret police still monitor foreign guests. Maybe yes maybe no. It is that uncertainty that keeps locals very cautious.