Sunday 19 January 2014

The Great Sichuan Adventure: Day 1 and 2 – Mount Qingcheng/ My 22nd Birthday!

I’m back in Guangzhou after a week venturing through the mountainous province of Sichuan! It’s pretty hard to sum up really – needless to say it was bloody awesome, but that’s too simplistic. I also want to avoid cliché lines such as ‘a trip of a lifetime’ or ‘a mind broadening journey’ etc, it’s just hard to describe. It’s like when I return to England and i’m destined to answer people asking ‘how was China’, all I imagine I’ll say is ‘it was great, cheers’ and no image is presented. What I can say though is on many occasions throughout the week (and indeed my whole time in China) my mind paused in the stream for a moment thinking ‘woah, look at this Adam. Did you ever think you’d be in a place like this? Did you ever think you’d actually be doing this in your life?’ 

Thus far I’ve climbed 3 mountains, slept in many temples, visited cities where people have treated me like a celebrity, seen poverty and wealth beyond what I’ve seen back home and experienced every weather condition conceivable. That’s the one thing that has followed me throughout my travels, mostly when struck with something absolutely amazingly beautiful, bizarre or unique, and occasionally with something rather terrifying… 

That generally describes my trip around Sichuan, seasoned with a lot of ‘phwoar! Look at that view!’, ‘ahhh! This chicken is so spicy!’ and ‘Watch out, that monkey’s stealing your stuff!’

Day 1 - Mount Qingcheng




The trip began at 5am on 11th January where I had to force myself out of bed, quickly pack my things and exchange emotional goodbyes with Yinzi before hopping into a taxi with Kexiong to the airport. Just before landing in Chengdu airport while the plane was still above the clouds I could see a snow-capped mountain peak in the distance – it turned out this was mount Emei, which I would be climbing a few days later! As soon as we landed we went straight onto a coach (by that I mean we waited 2 hours for a coach) to Qingcheng mountain.

Mount qingcheng is of great importance as a centre of the Taoist religion, which I’ve always been interested in.. At the base of the mountain were hundreds of tourists, but luckily, as we climbed higher the people began to dissipate and for the first time in ages I found myself in natural surroundings, with nobody in sight.




We met many temples on the way with fantastic golden shrines inside, overlooking vast misty views of the 36 peaks of the mountain. In one temple we met a Taoist monk who was predicting a man’s fortune. 








Apparently, a Taoist monk can tell a lot about a person’s fate just by glancing at the person’s facial features. Sceptical of course, I decided to get in line to hear my ‘future’. Although I believe in destiny, I certainly don’t believe anyone can read it. When it came to my turn the monk turned to me with a deep look of shock – I assumed it was because I was a westerner, as I’ve gotten pretty used to that sort of look by now – but then he hastily said to Kexiong that it was now his dinner break, and he had to leave. I didn’t think anything of it, until kexiong explained ‘when something like this happens, it usually means it is best that you don’t know your fate’. I instantly saw this as a sign that something terrible was soon to happen, I was truly convinced for a while after that my face emitted certain death. ..







It took a total of around 9 hours to get to the top temple where we spent the night – for only 4 pounds!
The room was quite basic and extremely cold, but with free hot water and a tv I fell asleep easily. It was cosy and a great night, as long as I continue to pretend the shared toilets didn’t exist…



Day 2 - 12th January, a.k.a.  My Birthday!




It was dark when we reached the temple, so it came as a shock to awake to amazing views from the temple terrace in the morning. We hadn’t quite made it to the top, so we packed our things and headed to the highest peak of the mountain where we were greeted with the most amazing atmosphere. The air was cool and scented with incense from the pagoda, overlooking the clearest and most intricate scenery I had ever seen. It was a great way to spend the morning, especially for preparation for what lay ahead…












Once we descended down the mountain we had a long journey ahead to get to the city of Ya’an, where the pandas were. This took much longer than anticipated, meaning we had to reschedule panda time for the next day. In total it must have been about 5 or 6 hours on the coaches in total, where we made exchanges in small and secluded towns which had little contact with outsiders – especially foreigners. This met with different results, the first town I walked out the station to be greeted by a flock of middle-aged taxi drivers. I was rather concerned at first, until one of them suddenly said ‘hi!’ with the biggest grin. Then all began saying hi (presumably being the only English they knew) and began asking in Chinese where I was from, where I was going etc. I had many requests to have photos taken with people in that station, almost like I was famous. It felt pretty weird being the centre of attention even more so than I was in Guangzhou, but it was friendly, so I didn’t mind and even more so enjoyed engaging with the people rather than receiving blank stares. The next town however, was different.

 It was dark by now - and raining - when we walked out of the station pondering where to go and how the hell to get there. Kexiong left momentarily and as he did, a large circle of men began to form around me. No smiles or greetings were exchanged this time, they just began to shout and get closer and closer to me – it was rather terrifying - which sounds over the top, but I guess 'you had to be there' etc etc. We then had to walk out into a chaotic street with cars wizzing too close for comfort until we hopped onto a very dilapidated looking rickshaw. Suddenly it felt like I’d been kidnapped in the boot of a car with no sight of where I was going, just the sound of cars beeping and people shouting. I suddenly felt like a freak, using the flapping curtain for cover hoping people passing by wouldn’t see me in case they stared in shock or began shouting. I know this couln't be a town made especially for terrible people, i'm sure all the people meant well; but I couldn't help but feel that I was viewed as a public enemy or a big pound sign...


(Photos taken while on the rickshaw the morning after)




Eventually however, we made it up into the mountains where we spent the night. The place was fantastic. It began to snow as the hotel manager picked us up in the car and took us further up. We were greeted with a large hot meal served by two adorable children, one of whom was only about 2 and kept giving me more and more bowls as to imitate his older sister. The room was warm and cosy, and had a huge tv – and a shower! How I missed having a shower. The family more importantly were very warm towards us, making me feel more like a welcomed guest rather than a lone foreigner out of place. It meant I eventually managed to calm down and stop shivering (from cold and fear), look ahead to seeing the pandas and remind myself that it was my birthday, and that I’m now 22! Yay! 


 My next post for day 3 of my trip will be about pandas, and arriving at the base of mount emei!

Zai'jian!

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