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!
Zai'jian!
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