Chengdu is a one hour flight south of Lanzhou, in Sichuan province. The climate is hotter and much steamier, as is the food! There is also almost continuous cloud (or is it smog?) not one bit of blue sky the whole week. Much bigger and far more developed than Lanzhou, this enormous Louis Vuitton store was the first thing I saw after getting off the airport bus! Quite the contrast. I loved my time here and it was definitely a week filled with firsts for me.
The first time I've travelled alone.
I thought that the only child thing would have better prepared me but I definitely felt this at times. Seeing groups of laughing friends or families made me feel quite lonely! How people travelled without phones or a constant internet connection baffles me. If it weren't for that I would have gone insane!
The first time I've stayed in a hostel dorm.
An eight bed room with one bathroom takes some getting used to. Not to mention when all your bunkmates are smelly, snoring boys! It was definitely not one of the high points of the trip and I'm looking forward to a lovely sleep tonight. A small electrical fire within minutes of my arrival also did little to endear the hostel to me! (see photo) However, all was made up for by the excellent location in a "new" old hutong area in the city center, and of course, the great price.
The first time I've taken an organised tour group.
I originally contemplated trying to get to the Bamboo Sea on my own, but on arrival in Chengdu, it just seemed too overwhelming! After 20 minutes of dodgy Chinglish with the China Travel Service, I had booked a 2 day visit with an all Chinese tour group. No logistics to worry about and excellent practice for my Chinese! It was also priceless to have the opportunity to observe Chinese tourists in action, more on this later. Still, I do feel like I chickened out a bit! Baby steps...
All over China you will find unlicensed taxis, usually outside tourists spots or transport hubs trying to lure you away from the legitimate rides. Although the cars are perfectly safe, the issue is that no license, no meter and no receipt means no remedy if you get a bad experience. I've always been very cautious and vehemently discouraged them, one: because the guide books say so and two: because I'm a nerd who likes to obey the law to the letter. After seeing the Giant Pandas on my first day, I mistakenly walked the wrong way at the exit gate and could not find a bus that would get me back to the city. The only solution was one of these cars. What really put me at ease was going halves with a nice Chinese family, who got us a good price. Nothing to worry about! Inspired by this experience, when I got to the airport bus stop today to get to Chengdu Airport, I had no qualms in sharing a taxi with four others. For the same price as the Airport Shuttle, we got there much faster. Why was I so hesitant before? It's just how they do it in China.
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