Hot and Spicy

Having traveled to many locations in China, one place that we always wanted to visit was the province of Sichuan.  This area is considered to be the home to China's spiciest cuisine, Giant Pandas, and famous scenery.  Before beginning the 2011-12 school year, we decided to take a trip through Sichuan and visit nearby Chongqing while we were close by.

Our trip lasted only five and a half days, but it was memorable nonetheless.  It started with a flight from Guangzhou to Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan with a population of around eight million people.  We arrived late at night and were lucky enough to locate a hotel near what is referred to as "old Chengdu."  Below is a quick recap of all the highlights from our time in Chengdu and surrounding areas.

It was fun exploring Chengdu's Jin Li Ancient Street.  This neighborhood is very relaxing and provides guest with the opportunity to see traditional Sichuan-style buildings.  Additionally, this is a great place to taste many of the famous traditional street snacks of Sichuan.  There is no admission to enter the enclosed area of Jin Li Street.  Here there are rows and rows of shops selling everything from traditional Chinese embroidery to Starbucks Coffee.  Adan was in the mood to eat something sweet, so he tried some famous Sichuan snacks.  One was called San Da Pao.  It is a distinctive snack made of sticky rice, brown sugar, sesame seeds, and beans.

Another destination that proved to be worthwhile was the Wenshu Temple.  Considered to be the most popular temple in all of Chengdu, this Buddhist worship site was impressive.  We happened to arrive during a spiritual ceremony and witnessed their unique costumes, music, and other traditions.  The temple dates back to the Tang Dynasty and houses over 450 unique Buddhas and other relics.  The grounds are abundant and include two tea houses and vegetarian restaurants.  The nicest part about this location is its great entry fee of five kuai (about 75 cents)!

After checking out the sites of the city, we made our way to visit Da Fo in Leshan City.  This UNESCO landmark is a giant Buddha carved from stone measuring 233 feet (71m) and took 90 years to complete due to funding issues.  Legend has it that this massive statue was the idea of a Buddhist monk.  Near the location of the statue was a route for shipping vessels, however due to rough waters travel here was difficult.  The monk felt that if a Buddha was placed nearby, it would calm the water.  Coincidentally enough, because the massive project required so much stone removal, shipping routes calmed due largely in part to the deposits of stone that was put into the water from construction.  The statue was completed in 803.  The entrance fee here was a bit pricey--80RMB ($12.50).

One of the main reasons Pazi wanted to travel to Sichuan was to see the famous Chinese Pandas.  Just outside of the city, we visited the Chengdu Panda Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding.  It has an entry fee of 58RMB ($9 bucks).  We spent a good portion of our third day in Sichuan at this facility.  The weather was really starting to pick up on this day and did so for the rest of the trip.  It was about 34C degrees (93F).  The center had several areas where the Pandas lived.  Unfortunately, the heat outside required almost all the Pandas to go inside to caged areas rather than their enclosed living areas with trees and other vegetation.  The facility is layed out almost like a park.  There are five main  areas where the Pandas live.  The first area is for young adult Pandas.  The next one is for Panda "cubs."  The third area is for newborns, complete with incubators.  The fourth is devoted solely to the much smaller Red Panda.  Finally, the last area is for full grown adult bears.  Overall, we enjoyed the time we spent checking out the Pandas.  Our only recommendation to others would be to visit the park during the fall months.

Although we wanted to see more of Sichuan and its beautiful outdoor scenery, Pazi needed to limit her physical activity due to the pregnancy.  So we made the decision to visit nearby Chongqing.  Chongqing was originally part of Sichuan, but in 1997 the government decided to make it a municipality and broke off what has now become an area of 82,401 square kilometers (31,800 square miles) with a population of nearly 30 million people.  Nearly one-third of those people live within Chongqing's urban area.


The biggest surprise was not all those people crammed into Chongqing city, but its scorching weather.  When we arrived after a four hour bus ride from Chengdu, we quickly found out how unbearably hot the weather would be.  During our two and a half days in Chongqing it was 40C (104F)!!!

The first day was spent visiting the Yangtze River from the port and docks area referred to as Chaotianmen.  This river is Asia's longest at 3,988 miles (6,418km).  We really wanted to take a boat cruise down this river towards Shanghai to see the many incredible sites, including the (in)famous Three Gorges Dam.  Many of our friends have done this and say it's a spectacular experience.  Oh well.  We'll plan for it next time.

For the remainder of our time we visited Jie Fang Bei Pedestrian Street, Ci Qi Kou Ancient Town, and the Great Hall of the People.  The pedestrian street is a very upscale area of Chongqing.  Many stores, hotels, restaurants, and offices related to trade, finance, and telecommunications are here.  Ci Qi Kou is a nice small tourist spot to spend a few a hours.  We visited ancient dwellings dating back to the nineteenth century, bought spicy snacks, and wandered the many curio shops.  Lastly, the Great Hall is an architectural achievement for Chongqing in that its a structure that closely resembles the magnificent Temple of Heaven in Beijing.  It is considered by many to be one of the best constructed Chinese buildings during the twentieth century.  

Last, but not least, we wanted to share the culinary experience of spicy hot pot.  This style of dining is famous in both Sichuan and Chongqing.  Basically, you order a broth that can either spicy or not.  It is possible to have a pot brought to your table with a divider that allows you to enjoy both types.  That is what we ordered.  The spicy one is referred to as mal la, or numb and spicy.  Its unique ingredients are flower pepper and peppercorns to give it punch.  The other stock is more of a chicken broth flavor.  Additionally, you'll order individual plates of meat and vegetables and cook them in the boiling stock at your table.  We ordered Chinese cabbage, mushrooms, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, tofu, lamb, and beef for our pot.  It's quite the experience.  Everyone should try it at least once.       

Now, it's time to get ready for school.