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| Panda on the loose. |
Didn't do anything that people in the right mind would do when in Chengdu. Great food, great nature, did none of that. Here's the alternative (or rather, empty) itinerary.
Day 25
After a week of roughing it out high in the mountains of Yunnan, we arrived in Chengdu desperately in need to back in touch with something possibly closer to home (not to mention the 20 hour bus ride from Lijiang I (kind of) needlessly got ourselves into in the name of completing the entire journey overland). And so, our first meal, in the capital of world-renowned Sichuan cuisine:
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| Not exactly Singaporean, but we weren't in the mood for Sichuan (or anything remotely (China) Chinese) |
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| Chunxi Road area |
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| Shops, malls, shorts, more |
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| Big city dreams, 14 million strong |
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| Tianfu Square |
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| Chairman Mao at the Tianfu Square |
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| Roadside barbecue stall |
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| People's Park |
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| People's Park |
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| People's Park |
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| Panda Post |
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| Public transport seems robust in Chengdu |
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| Here we are, at the crossroads once again |
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| Face to face, and a thousand miles apart |
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| Finally, local food. Headed to a highly recommended place for spicy crabs and fried critters (蓉记香辣蟹爬爬虾). There was a queue outside, and some snacks and drinks you can help yourself too while waiting. While drinks are free for those waiting, there weren't any free drinks provided inside. |
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| Deep fried not-too-sure-what-kind-of-shrimp-is-this (爬爬虾) |
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| Spicy crabs. Numbingly spicy. The two dishes were too much for two people to finish, probably four will be a good number to share the dishes. Great food though (but not cheap), I'd recommend it. |
Day 26
Had another chill day in Chengdu before my friend was due to return to Singapore and I was to continue the rest of the overland trip alone.
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| Steamed buns shop near our hostel. |
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| Buns of every flavor |
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| Juxtapose. |
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| Streets of Chengdu. |
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| Wenshu Temple |
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| Wenshu Temple |
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| Wenshu Temple |
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| Wenshu Temple |
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| Wenshu Temple |
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| Wenshu Temple |
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| Wenshu Temple |
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| Peace out. |
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| Pandas in transit. |
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| Lunch at a Lanzhou beef noodle shop. |
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| Tasted better than this looks. |
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| Halal food (清真, in the signboard) can be found quite easily in most of the cities I visited in China, probably due to the (small but) significant Muslim population in the country. China is quite a diverse country, which makes it really interesting from a cultural and gastronomic perspective. |
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| People are talking, people are talking |
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| Let 'em talk 'cause we dancing in this world alone, world alone, we're alone |
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| Chengdu |
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| Local markets |
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| Outside Chengdu train station. |
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| Tight security at the train station. |
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| Waiting for the slaughter. Bought a seat ticket instead of a sleeping berth for a 30 hour train ride and regretted it a little. Eye opening experience nevertheless. |
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| Finally ditching buses for trains, and after two weeks of awesome company, all alone again. |
Would love to be back some day for stuff such as the Jiuzhaigou, Huanglongsi and definitely more Sichuan food, but this short trip to Chengdu was a good break from all that hiking nonetheless. Next up, the 30 hour train ride to
Beijing, capital of the middle kingdom.
Total Spent in Chengdu (2 days)
Actual travel dates: 4 June 2015 - 5 June 2015
Accommodation: ¥30(~S$6.50 for 1 night)
Attractions: ¥5(~S$1)
Food: ¥219(~S$47)
Transport (excl train to
Beijing): ¥6(~S$1.3) (~¥2 per ride on the metro/subway)
Bus from Lijiang: ¥317 (~S$69)
Train to
Beijing: ¥229 (~S$50)
Total: ¥489(~S$106) (excludes day spent at Lijiang before bus to Chengdu
)
How to get from Shangrila to Chengdu overland:
There were many scheduled buses daily between Shangrila and Lijaing (approximately 3 to 4 hours travelling).
From
Lijiang, there was a daily bus leaving around 12.30pm and takes about 20 to 21 hours to arrive at Chengdu.
Not sure if the bus schedules has changed though, had originally planned to travel to Panzhihua from Shangrila and then take a train but the bus schedule was different from the one I had done planning with thus had to change the plan on the spot and head to
Lijiang instead. Thankful it worked out although we took an additional day to complete the journey.
Next,
Beijing.
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