19th, Jan
Dolphin, me and Fan took the 7 am bus to Dujiangyan City, where we
would visit Qingcheng Hill. The sky was still dark. There were only
several passengers and the bus looked old and dirty! As expected, it
grumbled loudly when started. I got a bad feeling that it might break
down on half way! Anyway, it wasn't long till the bus began to
generate black smoke inside and we all smelt a strong scent of diesel
oil! To our surprise, the driver appeared deaf when we informed him
about what happening in shouts! Fan said:"Maybe its just the way it
is!" And after a while, the smoke and diesel smell magically
disappeared. People kept boarding on every time the bus stopped. Soon
it got full. The road was in bad condition and the bus kept bumping.
It was okay for me. What soon made me and Dolphin got sick was the
several guys seated in front of us, began to enjoy a relay of smoking,
one cigarette after another. Never stopped till we finally arrived at
3 pm. Fan said there was a Tibetan seated behind him who was smelly,
but I didn't notice. Okay, to think positively, the smoke at least
protected me from another foul odor!
As a compensation, we decided to find a nice hotel. Then we chose a
4-star hotel named "Gold Leaf". There was special-priced room there,
said on our domestic hotel information handbook. But we were told it
was only in 2-star standard when checking in. Anyway we took 2 rooms.
And had a wonderful shower! I felt I would be so contented to have
enough food and get hot water for a bath! I required simple in life!
We went in town for food later. There were pedicabs(we call it 3-wheel
bike) everywhere. We 3 guys managed to get in one pedicab and asked
the driver take us to something delicious. The driver recommended "Red
Lantern" hot-pot. It was a very small restaurant, looked humble. But
it was the nicest meal we had in several days! It was a kind of buffet
hot-pot, with a long and thin bamboo stick held vegetables or meat on
it, each stick counted 10 cents. We ate almost 400 sticks and my belly
was just about to burst!
But according to Fan, there was still one gastronomic delight we
hadn't tried yet -- the rabbit's head! Ooohh, that sounded terrible! I
am a peaceful creature and I won't eat other peaceful animal's head!
Furthermore, I suspected how they could made a bony head tasty!
Anyway, later while we were ambling in streets in order to help our
stomachs digest, we saw the famous Dujiangyan's Rabbit Head. They were souped
in big pots with dense juice. The poor little animal's head
looked small, thin and ugly. 3 Yuans each, there were "numb-spicy" and
"five-savory" flavored. I had a fierce fight in my head and finally we
bought 6 heads. (Forgive me, coz I may not be able to return to
Dujinagyan in a long time!) Backed to the hotel, the odd food
generated some appetizing smell while we were watching TV. So soon we
started our new adventure. To my astonishment, it was very good! The
only obstacle I had was to bite the hard skull. It was so tasty that I
claimed I must eat more tomorrow! (Poor rabbits!)
20th, Jan
As usual, we got up in early morning and took a bus to Qingcheng
Hill, 9 Yuans each. The entrance tickets in Sichuan province are
ridiculous! The Qingcheng Hill is divided into the front part and back
part. The front hill requires 60 Yuans to enter if you want to admire
the cultural and historical Taoism temples, while fortunately we just
have to pay 20 Yuans each for enjoying woods and waterfalls in the
back hill. (We decided not to visit the Dujiangyan dam -- a
well-known ancient dam which was introduced on our middle school text
book, just because it is a park now and charges bloody 60 Yuans for
entrance! Anyway, I prefer to recall a blurry picture of it on my old
text book.)
Qingcheng back hill is well described as elegant and beautiful. We
encountered graceful bridges and pavilions very soon after we began
our ascent. The water in the river was quite shallow and big rocks
showed their faces. But its indeed beautiful. Heavy frog coated the
hill, just like we were walking on the clouds. We stepped on the
narrow footpath up the hill, all zigzag steep stairs, sometimes made
of rocks and sometimes wood. The river followed our way, water
tingling and we met small waterfalls every now and then, as well as
old bridges and pavilions in different styles. There were several
times we had to stop for the poetic sceneries, and just stayed quiet
to enjoy the wonder of nature. I thought we were all drunk. After we
passing by the biggest waterfall, it started snowing. Thanks to the
winter season, there was no other tourist that day. We were just like
having a private date with the fairyland.
We began to ascend the hill at 10 am, and got down at 4 pm. We
discovered that the bus back to Dujiangyan had already got off work
because "it's not the hot travelling season" again! A small van driver
offered us 80 RMB back to Dujiangyan -- crazy Sichuan people! We
denied and went on foot. We were only willing to pay 50 Yuans. At last
he came back to us and accepted our price.
Moving on our busy schedule, we took a bus back to Chengdu at once
upon the arrival on Dujiangyan. But we couldn't make the 7:30 pm bus
to Mount Emei City. Luckily we bought the 21:55 pm train tickets
instead. (The woman selling tickets had a nasty attitude!) Now we had
2 hours free! Fan suggested we try the local famous "Imperial City
Mama" Hot- pot for dinner. We couldn't agree more and excitedly jumped
into a taxi! This was a decent (which hinted its decent price too)
restaurant! The waitresses had professional smiles and payed no
attention to our dirty trousers and shoes. There were "slight, a
little, middle, high and super" 5 hot levels, we chose "middle". It
was delicious, but very spicy too! I couldn't imagine what "super hot"
would be like -- must be capable of burning off my tongue! There was
chicken soup in the steaming pot as broth, thats why it tasted sooooo
good! Hot, fresh, and tender! We couldn't stop when started eating and
even didn't have time to commend! Wahhh...so wonderful! This was what
real fire-pot is about! It ended up costing 247 RMB totally, but we
felt worthy! A waitress gave us a nice-wrapped paper bag as we left --
all big sweet jujubes inside!
It took 2 hours to Mount Emei City by train. Many peasants with big
luggage(they were going back home from cities where they do low jobs)
and college students (going back home from schools) boarded on the
way. Soon the aisle was packed with standing people, smoking and
talking loudly. Its not the spring festival transportation yet! Every
year by that time the railway station will be like hell!
Arrived Emei at mid-night and went to SWJT University to meet Fan's
friends. They booked rooms for us in the University. 30 Yuans for a
double bed room -- 15 Yuans a bed -- super cheap! And there was hot
water for a shower! Wow...
21st, Jan
We had to wait for a friend of Fan to finish his final exam. Then
eventually I could sleep late this morning! Felt so refreshed!
All people assembled at noon, 4 boys would go with us to the famous Mount Emei.
We discussed if we should ascent the mountain on foot or take a bus
directly to the top, coz it is altitudely above 3000 meters high.
Most guys showed ambition of hiking. So we took a bus to
Ten-thousand-year Temple, from where it's about 8 hours' walk to the
top, according to Xiao Ma, one of the boys.
The entrance price killed me again -- 100 Yuans! (In peak season cost
120 Yuans.) I would not come if I had known it beforehand! Its 1/10th
of one's monthly income -- just to visit a damn mountain -- although
it's "the world's natural heritage" now. I think only rich Chinese
can visit our lovely motherland. Fan and his friends payed 50 Yuans
each, because they are students. But it's still expensive for them!
After paying the money, we were asked to enter a small room to take a
quick photo which was printed on our tickets. (As a memorial?) Funny!
It's drizzling. The footpath was very muddy and soon turned into pure
steep stairs! We encountered horses carrying construction material
for time to time. The hospitable animals always left a trace of crap.
After about an hour of hiking, everybody replaced the vigorous strides
with wormlike steps. At that time we bumped into an old man who was
sweeping the road. We asked how far was there yet to the top, he
answered in peace smile:"You've already finished 2 km, there is still
28 km ahead." Ohh-- We all fainted!!! How could we handle this? So...
after a quick discussing, all agreed wisely (but crestfallenly!) that
we should go back. When we passed by Ten-thousand-year Temple again, 2
old Mamas made laugh of us in local dialect:"I have known for sure
that they will come back soon -- and look, one even twisted his
ankle!" &^@#%*-... Xiao Ma told me later, his last hiking Emei
experience was "painful".
We couldn't make to the top today. But luckily after inquiring, we
learnt that the dear ticket would not be expired till the day after
tomorrow. Thank God, the Sichuan Travel Bureau eventually does
something makes sense!
So we went back to SWJT University and stayed in the lovely
15-Yuan-per-bed "Dragon and Phoenix Hotel" again.
22nd, Jan
Got up at 7 am. It was so dark and still raining that we had to light
the road with torches. Dolphin said she got a feeling that as if we
were in the popular TV programme "Challenge and Survive". Haha...
Got on a bus at 8 am to the highest bus stop "Lei Dong Ping", where
still need an hour's walk to the very top of the mountain, named "Gold
Top". (We considered it must be a cake too small to feed our ambitious
hiking appetite yesterday.)
A handsome German boy seated next to me and we talked in Mandarin. He
commented on the tickets that Chinese could just charge for entrance
but not give tourist a paper ticket, because it's useless except
producing rubbish. I told him that if a Chinese payed an amount of
money and got nothing in return, he would get mad. (Am I right? I
don't know!) And the problem of whatever little thing you buy in
China, you definitely get a plastic bag for free, which also produces
garbage. "In German, you have to pay for it!"
On the half way it was becoming into a totally white world! Snow
sheltered everything. The trees were full of icicles -- so
fascinating! All people on the bus burst in exclaim!
Arrived at "Lei Dong Ping" in about 1 and a half hour. We started our
last ascend in screaming and laughters -- boys shaked the trees which
were loaded of heavey snow when we were going through. We carried our
big backpacks coz we planned to go back Chengdu later directly. A
little tired but we were captivated by a glorious snow world. We were
told that this was the first day the sun came out on the mountain
within 2 weeks, which changed our mind into staying on Gold Top to see
the sun rising next morning. So lucky we were! Maybe we were fortunate
enough to see the Buddha Light. ("Your shadow is silhouetted against
the clouds and a rainbow halos your shadow. It was a wonderful
excursion." picture )
Its said that only a person who possesses the affinity with Buddha can
have a chance to see it.
The last 6 km to Gold Top proved a delicious cake for us, and surely
big enough. The scenery along our way didn't disappoint us. We saw
the thrilling sea of clouds, which was quite rewarding! There were
some package tourists there and they all took the cable car from Lei
Dong Ping to Gold Top. Although one boy was left behind, 5 of us
proudly reached Gold Top, especially we 2 girls did a good job! It
took us about 2 hours. Standing on Gold Top, we saw the vast sea of
clouds under our feet, the mountains' tops littered on it just like
isles scattering on the sea! The clear blue sky and horizon were sewed
into a huge tapestry and it's impossible to see the stitches by human
eyes. Nothing but pure beauty! I now felt my 100 Yuans didn't go
wasted!
But we didn't see the Buddha Light!
We found a hotel, 90 Yuan for a double bed room which was relatively
cheaper. 4 boys squeezed in one room.
It was about 3 pm. The sun was blessedly warm and shed brightly into
our room. I managed to dry my shoes and socks in sun which were
invaded by snow. We were so tired that all took a nap. I dreamed of a
flower who could speak and she told me her name was Linda. When I woke
up, saw Fan's text message "Wanna see the setting sun together?" Ha!
After admiring the tangerine sun, we went to a cheap-looked "Gold Top
Rice Restaurant" for dinner, where we found out the hot-pot rivaled
"Imperial City Mama" in price! And we all ordered a bowl of "fried
rice with eggs" , 5 Yuans each. I noticed "fried noodles with eggs"
cost 10 Yuans and they spelt "noodles" as "hoodles" on the English
version menu.
It was very cold when it turned dark. There was no entertainment, Fan
suggested we go to see the stars. Me and Dolphin thought it was an
excellent idea, while the 3 other boys prefer curling up in bed. Gold
Top was so enchanting at night. It wasn't as cold as I had imagined.
The moon was round, bright, and looked so close that as if I can touch
it by hands. So did the stars. The mountains were alive mysteriously,
I thought they were whispering to me. We stayed there for quite a
while untill a security guard carring a big torch came up to ask what
we were doing.
23rd, Jan
Got up at almost 8 am and rushed to Gold Top. The gloomy sky was
lightening. It had gathered many people there and the sun was just
about to break though.
The glowing orange clouds met with the fresh blue sky, and the sun was
climbing up from under the horizon. It unveiled its whole face in 5
minutes, beautiful tangerine at first then emitted brilliant lights.
It was quite an impressive sight but not as splendid as I expected
though.
We said goodbye to Fan and his friends and went down the mountain in
cable car immediately, because Dolphin had to catch the plane in
Chengdu this afternoon. We had to change to bus by walking for 15
minutes, and my hair got fozen on the way! How interesting! I took a
photo for keeping this moment.
We went back to Chengdu and Dolphin took the plane back Guangzhou. I
still have 2 days in Chengdu, to feel this "leisure and sensual" city.
A good friend Black Flag suggested me to stay at "Dragon Town" youth
hostel, located in an old alley where people drink tea and enjoy
randomly talks while bathing in the sun. It was indeed an interesting
alley! I loved it as soon as I stepped on it. It is a narrow alley,
and just about 100 meters long. There were old styled houses on both
sides. The dark brick walls, ashy tiles, deary trees, an old woman
hanging clothes, a lazy wolfhound, all looked like familiar wrinkles
on grandfather's face. It seemed the aged, big and heavey doors held
so many stories inside. They were aspirating and inhaling in dense
air, narrating in hoarse voice the long-forgotten anecdotes and
history. And then I saw the typical Chengdu scene: many people were
seating in bamboo chairs, leisurly stretching their bodies in
different positions, looked carefree and content. White porcelain tea
cups on low bamboo tables. I felt even time slowed down its steps when
flowing though this place. It is named "Kuan Xiang Zi"(means wide
alley), juxtaposes with "Zhai Xiang Zi"(means narrow alley) and other
several alleys. They dated back to more than 200 years ago, I later
learnt. Its the true heart of Chengdu I think.
Dragon Town youth hostel possesses characteristic structure too. It is
a kind of surrounding building and adorned with laterns. I think it's
the Ming/Qing dynasty style.
As I went to the checking desk, a woman said to me:"You are back?" I
smiled and answered:"This is my first time here." I took a bed in a 3
bed room, 30 RMB, with heater. And I met Black Flag just outside
Dragon Town. He was drinking tea with a friend. So I joined them to
enjoy a true, alive Chengdu afternoon. Black Flag is a "professional"
backpacker, a riliable friend and a real man. He and other friends treated me fire-pot
as dinner. I brought them cigarettes from my
hometown.
24th, Jan
It was Monday, all my friends in Chengdu were busy with work. So I had
to kick off the whole day by myself. I've got some ideas, like riding
a bike to see the raw Chengdu, jumping into a double deck bus then
getting off in busy streets, or just finding an interesting place to
drink tea, etc. At last I decide to go walking with my room-mate, Lin
Jing, a pretty girl who works in Guilin. She turned out to be a
manager of a youth hostel in Guilin, and she is still in her last year
of university! She told me her boss will send her to Lhasa for
starting a new youth hostel in May. We went to a street where selling
Tibetan novelties. I bought a necklace, simply with something shaped
as a bull's head, only 3 Yuans. (I had bought a same one in
Jiuzhaigou, but lost it while taking a shower.) I am wearing it now.
Lin Jing left Chengdu in the afternoo. But we will meet in Guilin
after the Spring Festival, and also in Lhasa later this year I guess,
coz Tibet is on my recent visitng list.
A friend Xiao Shan finished his exam in the afternoon and we met in a
busy commercial street -- Chun Xi Road, where abounded in local
snacks. We tried some famous food, like "Longs' Dumplings", "Spouse
Beef", "Egg Baked Cake", "Guo Kui"(similar to Chinese hamburg), and
many I couldn't recall the names! Xiao Shan was very cute, majored in
Chinese painting. I loved when he said seriously:"I'm not an artist.
I'm just a worker towards art." And he keps telling "cold jokes" when
we were having dinner, something like:"A soft candy fell while walking
coz its legs turned soft." "An egg whispered to other egges in the
refrigerator:"Hey there is a poor buddy molded!" And the molded egg
answered:"Shit! I'm a Kiwi!"...I like them! It's goofy! Haha...
We strolled in the streets till midnight and he had to take a taxi
back to school. He introduced some local crispy cakes to me, yummy!
25th, Jan
Woke up and took the plane home in the morning! It's anounced on the
plane that the temperature in Nanning was 20 degree Celsius! Wow! I
love my tropical city!
I got out of the airport and saw sun shining generously on green palm
trees, so delightful. I suddenly felt the sun light so precious!
Goodbye, the dismal sky of Chengdu!
I'm home, lovely home! |