For detailed information on how to do this trip see our tips section here. Months ago, back in the UK, I’d looked up places to visit in China by going through the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. One place listed was Dujiangyan Irrigation System. It looked quite out the way to visit, and it’s also something that’s not so impressive to look at. It is basically an engineering masterpiece which can only be understood by reading about it rather than looking at it. However, I wanted to go. So, imagine my delight when I found that a high-speed train exists, direct from Chengdu to Dujiangyan. Excellent I thought, we must go! A bit of reading told me that it was also near a popular mountain and the two are best combined into a day trip. So at 8:30am we were boarding the high-speed train to Qingcheng (in Chinese Q is pronounced like ch. So it’s pronounced like Ching Cheng). Almost the whole line was elevated above the trees and we glided in comfort at 200kph to our destination. A bargain at £1.50 each. We arrived an hour later at a glistening new station in Qingcheng. We caught the bus to the base of the mountain. A group of people who spoke no English did their best to make sure we knew where we were going. They pointed at their leaflets which had the name of the mountain written in English. The bus was a flat rate 20p and as we found out later only went to the mountain by request, usually it went the opposite direction into town. Very helpful of them to make sure we were going the right way. That morning it had been dark, cloudy and chilly in Chengdu so we’d taken our fleeces for warmth. We’d given no thought to the sun. That was a very stupid mistake for us to make. By the time we reached the mountain the sun was shining and the sky was blue. It’s the end of May and we are quite far south, the sun can do some serious damage here! We had the umbrella in the bag (which we bought on the Nepalese/Tibet border when we were unexpectedly caught in a downpour with no waterproofs) which Annemarie could use to keep the sun off her. I would have to buy a hat and let my arms take the punishment. My arms can take the sun without burning but obviously there’s other dangers than just burning, but that’s my fault. Suncream is impossible to buy. Many Chinese are now quite white (thanks to the whitening they have in every...
Read MoreFrom Chengdu it is possible to visit both Mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan Irrigation System in a single day. Here’s how we did it: 1. At Chengdu North Station book a one-way ticket to Qingcheng (the end of the line). We went on the 8:30am train. Book a return train from Dujiangyan to Chengdu for around 6:30pm or later. We had time to eat a quick meal of noodles before leaving Dujiangyan. Book the train in advance! The train was full on a Monday morning. 2. Upon exiting the train station turn left. You’ll see the bus station very soon. Take bus 101 to the mountain. The fare is 2 RMB, no change given! Ask the driver for Qingcheng Shan. 3. The mountain is the end of the line. Get off and take a buggy (10 RMB) to the entrance. The walk is beside the road for about 2km. 4. It’s 90 RMB entrance fee. Chose whether to walk up or take the cable car. It’s 35 RMB each way, or 60 RMB return. We walked up in 1hr 10m and took the cable car down after eating in a restaurant near the top. Be warned drinks are expensive, 10 RMB for 500ml bottles, bring your own if you want to save some money. 5. Take the buggy back to the car park for 10 RMB. 6. Get on bus 101 again and ask for Dujiangyan. You’ll go to the train station but then continue into town. It’ll take about 40 minutes and the irrigation system is at the end of the route. Flat rate of 2 RMB with no change given! 7. Pay the 90 RMB entrance fee for the irrigation system. We spent quite a few hours wandering around here. Drinks were expensive here too! 8. Go back to where you got off the bus for the irrigation system and get on bus 4. This will take you to the train station – it is the last stop and takes 40 minutes. Flat rate 2 RMB with no change...
Read MoreA speciality of Sichuan Provence is the hot-pot. It’s listed as a must do in the area and there’s plenty of restaurants in Chengdu which serve nothing but hot pot. After wandering around Chengdu all afternoon we were looking for somewhere to eat and saw one of these hot-pot eateries. We were looking curiously through the door and we were beckoned in. The tables were square, with benches on all four sides and a big hole in the centre of each table. We sat down, wondering what to do next. We must have looked confused because someone from another table came and sat with us and went through the menu. I said before how friendly and helpful the people in Chengdu seem to be and this was no exception. He read out the main parts (meat and veg) and we chose a few. He then said he’d add a couple of poplar dishes. That took us to 6 dishes. We thought that was enough. He told us most people order 16 dishes. We’ve noticed that in many restaurants where people are eating in a group they will order probably double the amount of food they need and then leave most of it. We insisted that 6 would be fine. We had beef, fish, yam, potato, tomatoes and a big fat noodle thing. He asked how spicy we liked it, hot, medium or not very. Medium should be fine. We thanked him and he left us. A huge pot consisting of two sections was brought over and placed in the hole in the table. The gas under it was lit. The centre pot was water but surrounding it was a ring of oil filled with big red chillies and peppercorns. This was going to be a hot meal! The food started arriving. Small dishes of frozen beef, frozen whole fish, tomato chunks, sliced potato, sliced yam and these weird noodle ribbons. We had no idea what to do. So the waitress did most of the work for us. She asked where we wanted each piece, in the water or in the spicy section. Then we were left to wait for it to cook. We started fishing around for food. At the beginning it wasn’t too spicy. This was good. The fish was especially good. It was whole and full of bones, but the bits we nibbled off were delicious. As the meal went on the food got hotter and by the time we were eating the last few bits of food it had reached eye watering heat. With hindsight I guess you’re supposed to put in only a few of...
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Since our arrival in Chengdu the image of the panda has been everywhere. It takes the form of panda bags, magnets, cups and even a giant panda climbing up the nearby shopping plaza windows. Chengdu is at the heart of world research into pandas both giant and red. It is also the world leader into artificial insemination of pandas with the aim of trying to successfully breed giant pandas and then in the future prepare them to live in the wild. At the last count there was around 1,000 pandas left in the wild in China. They have been around for 8million years, starting life as carnivores before changing to eat bamboo. They still have the digestive system of a meat eater and only 20% of the bamboo they eat is actually digested. Everything else is wasted! Previously, their habitat was the whole of China. Now they live in small pockets in Western China. The Chengdu Giant Panda Research Centre is responsible for breeding pandas which have been used a diplomatic tools with some people arguing it is merely a breeding centre with no hope of them being returned to the wild as they cannot fend for themselves. We left at 7.10am and set off to another hostel to pick up someone else. As our driver went in he was passed by a girl who proceeded to have breakfast across the street. 15minutes later the girl went back into the hostel before emerging with the driver 5 minutes later. We were delayed by 20minutes meaning that we missed the start of the ‘tour’. The tour was a man showing us the best bits of the Sanctuary whilst hurrying us along. He spoke no English. We eventually arrived at the Sanctuary at 8.15am and our driver swiftly took us to the other end of the park for our first glimpse of the Giant Pandas. The first ones we saw were a mother and her young cub before moving onto the youngsters tumbling around and climbing trees in their habitat. The Sanctuary is very clean and it appeared that the pandas had lots of space to play and relax. Our next enclosure had a group of pandas eating their breakfast. One wasn’t interested and promptly climbed a tree to sleep. This panda on the other hand was clearly enjoying his food. As pandas are inefficient, retaining only 20% of the energy given by the bamboo it is not surprising that they just sit around or lie down. However, the younger pandas are a lot more active and seem to enjoy rolling and tumbling or play fighting with their mates. We then...
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We arrived in Chengdu train station at 8am on the train from Lhasa. Outside the train station is the entrance to the Chengdu Metro. Sheer bliss. We went down the escalator, paid 20RMB (20p) each for a ticket and stood on a pristine clean platform waiting for the train to arrive. It was cheap, clean, easy, fixed price for everyone and had no hawkers. Sheer bliss! A comfortable 20 minutes later we’d swapped metro lines to line 2 and reached our station. Upon reaching the street the view was somewhat surprising. A massive pedestrianised area with skyscrapers all around us. Fast food, upmarket shops, electronics stores, clothes stores. The area was packed with affluent shoppers. After more than two months in Nepal this was a shock to the senses. It was an easy 5 minute walk to the hostel from the metro. After breakfast and a shower we started sorting out all the extra weight we’d been lugging from Nepal. We’d already ditched the sleeping bags and thermal coats in Lhasa, but we still had probably 7-8kg between us of unnecessary clothing, gifts and birthday presents. We located the post office on the map, bagged up everything to post and headed off. A quick (and cheap) underground ride later and we were on the street where the post office is. The street had 8 lanes in total, huge footpaths, it was spotlessly clean and surrounded by skyscrapers. At the post office the staff were very helpful. To inspect and then pack every item took 30 minutes. After the post office we went for a late lunch. Chengdu has a LOT of bakeries. We found one with good bread so ate there. Then we went next door and had cake. So far Chengdu had been a perfect city. We went shopping in Carrefour. Just the usual, shower gel, deodorant, breakfast for the next few days (most hostels in China don’t include breakfast). In the metro we bought the 2 RMB (20p) tickets and entered the security checks. The deodorant is a banned item and we couldn’t enter! Annoying as we’d gone through earlier with deodorant in our bags! But, those are the rules, so I got the refund on the tickets and we would have to walk back to the hostel. After getting to the hostel I went to get my hair cut. With a bit of wandering I found a place, a bit posher than my last few haircuts. For 35 RMB (£3.50) I had my hair washed, dried, cut, washed again and dried again. I tried to get the washing skipped but for the fixed price they insisted....
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