China Trip Day 11 - Chengdu
Apr. 13th, 2024 10:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanithryudoGot up at 8-ish to get breakfast around IFS, and went to the 鬼包子 shop recommended by my parents. It was good, and UNESCO approved. Then bought some drinks, only to find out there are no bathrooms around because all of the mall and office buildings don't open until 10, and that was when our bus leaves. In the end, cashew ended up using the bathroom inside the metro which was icky and had a long line.
(As an aside, it seems like Chengdu as a city just starts its day later, around 8-10 ish. We were guessing this is due to time zone differences. Even though China uses one time zone for the entire country, geographically speaking, Chengdu is around 2 hours behind Beijing in terms of sunrise/sunset. But then again, the city also seems to close down around 10 PM as well, rather than staying open until midnight... Hm.)
Bus to 都江堰 took over an hour and we slept most of the way. At the end of the ride we ended up buying the tour group guide services offer by the bus. The information was great, both for the history of the irrigation system and for how to navigate the place by ourselves after the official tour. But it was a bit fast paced for some of the photogenic spots at the beginning of the site.
We took the route along the west side of the canal, with a good view of 宝瓶口 & 飞沙堰. After looking over the 龟嘴, we took the tram over north to the 安澜桥 (aka 夫妻桥). I got some nice panoramic pics, but not sure what resolution they'll come out in.
There we parted ways with our tour guide. We then crossed over the rickety rope bridge and climbed uuuup to 秦堰楼 for the hilltop view. Then down through 二王庙.
By that time, my parents were well on the way to the bus stop and started rushing us to catch up. So we rushed the rest of the path back to the South Bridge gate. It's fortunate most of the way was downhill, but it was still a big rush. My knees definitely got the workout today.
After exiting the official scenic zone, there is still a small town there selling a lot of local specialties and souvenirs, but we were forced to skip all of that. By the time we got back to the bus parking lot, we found they had already left on another bus. So there was no point to us rushing after their bus had left! Bleh. The most disappointing thing about today was missing the entire last segment of the tour site due to blind rushing. 😤
The bus ride back to the city took longer due to traffic. They dropped us off at a place called 琴台故径, which is apparently the place where 司马相如 & 卓文君 met. The street is full of wine shops, jewelry shops, and hanfu (or just archaic styled clothing) shops, which I guess is appropriate. The only food places are either part of hotels or formal hotpot places. I did end up buying a 刺绣 top there though.
In the end, we went back to IFS for dinner. At the food court there, we ate at a japanese sushi buffet (the kind with nigiri dishes on a scrolling platform and they charge you by the number of dishes). The food itself was average, but we did see some surprises, such as a piece of cooked liver on top of an unagi nigiri. Or the concept of bacon nigiri (we didn't have any). Weird.
cashew ended up using the bathroom inside the metro which was icky and had a long line.(As an aside, it seems like Chengdu as a city just starts its day later, around 8-10 ish. We were guessing this is due to time zone differences. Even though China uses one time zone for the entire country, geographically speaking, Chengdu is around 2 hours behind Beijing in terms of sunrise/sunset. But then again, the city also seems to close down around 10 PM as well, rather than staying open until midnight... Hm.)
Bus to 都江堰 took over an hour and we slept most of the way. At the end of the ride we ended up buying the tour group guide services offer by the bus. The information was great, both for the history of the irrigation system and for how to navigate the place by ourselves after the official tour. But it was a bit fast paced for some of the photogenic spots at the beginning of the site.
We took the route along the west side of the canal, with a good view of 宝瓶口 & 飞沙堰. After looking over the 龟嘴, we took the tram over north to the 安澜桥 (aka 夫妻桥). I got some nice panoramic pics, but not sure what resolution they'll come out in.
There we parted ways with our tour guide. We then crossed over the rickety rope bridge and climbed uuuup to 秦堰楼 for the hilltop view. Then down through 二王庙.
By that time, my parents were well on the way to the bus stop and started rushing us to catch up. So we rushed the rest of the path back to the South Bridge gate. It's fortunate most of the way was downhill, but it was still a big rush. My knees definitely got the workout today.
After exiting the official scenic zone, there is still a small town there selling a lot of local specialties and souvenirs, but we were forced to skip all of that. By the time we got back to the bus parking lot, we found they had already left on another bus. So there was no point to us rushing after their bus had left! Bleh. The most disappointing thing about today was missing the entire last segment of the tour site due to blind rushing. 😤
The bus ride back to the city took longer due to traffic. They dropped us off at a place called 琴台故径, which is apparently the place where 司马相如 & 卓文君 met. The street is full of wine shops, jewelry shops, and hanfu (or just archaic styled clothing) shops, which I guess is appropriate. The only food places are either part of hotels or formal hotpot places. I did end up buying a 刺绣 top there though.
In the end, we went back to IFS for dinner. At the food court there, we ate at a japanese sushi buffet (the kind with nigiri dishes on a scrolling platform and they charge you by the number of dishes). The food itself was average, but we did see some surprises, such as a piece of cooked liver on top of an unagi nigiri. Or the concept of bacon nigiri (we didn't have any). Weird.
