Chengdu

Monday 16th Novemeber

What started off as a 3 hour delay in Xi'an had expanded to a 7 hour delay by Chengdu. Not a fact I found hugely surprising having been woken several times during the night by the trains' various sudden lurches and lunges, and subsequent long pauses, as though it couldn't quite muster the energy needed to plough on in such cold.

It is sometimes almost a relief to be stuck on transport, as you are obliged to sit and relax without any guilt that there more productive uses of your time; a world to see! The one downside was that we had planned to arrive in time for a late breakfast. We therefore had to fast till evening. We made it worse for ourselves, reeling off our favourite dishes created by our mothers, which given half the chance we would gorge on there and then (Georgie- Polenta Cake, maman- banana and walnut cake, Sharon- ginger cake, and Auntie Linda and Uncle Dave, Christmas dinner came up at least 5 times!)

My first impressions of Chengdu were blurred through lack of sleep/food, but busy stands out. We walked to the hostel with our bags, dodging the craziest traffic yet and trying to find gaps in the crowds through which we could squeeze, taking into account our front and back bags which treble our size but act as good cushioning.

The hostel (Sim's cosey garden) was fantastic, with spacious dorms and comfortable beds. We headed straight to the restaurant. I wolfed down my food, flavour and taste completely irrelevant and therefore unmemorable. An hour later I pulled round the pink satin curtain which surrounded my bed, transformed it into a snug cocoon and slept like a log (or rather caterpillar).

Tuesday 17th November

Throughout China Chengdu is synonymous with pandas. Within the city you see them everywhere, from the hats on young children's heads, to the cigarette packets on the floor. With less than 1200 of these gorgeous creatures left in the wild it is only natural that Chengdu would be proud of their Panda Breeding Center, which has seen over 27 panda cubs successfully raised since 1987. We decided it worth checking out.

We (Al, Lynz, Rich, Sue and I) visited the site early as pandas are notoriously inactive and become more so with each munch of bamboo. I was glad to see that their pens were large and appeared naturalistic, as far as a non-panda connoisseur could see. I felt an instant rapport with this animal, who finds happiness eating their favourite food and living life at a relaxed pace.

We walked through the nursery and found a tiny one month old wriggling about in his incubator, unaware of how precious he really is. Meanwhile just by him in a baby's cot, 3 toddler pandas were taking their first wobbly steps.They look like ewoks!

Next we went to view the highly informative video about how the facility has such a successful breeding record. While at times it felt like propaganda, there were lots of interesting insights into the problems pandas face when it comes to reproducing. For example, they have to consume a huge amount of bamboo, just to have enough energy to have a go. So most of the time they don't! Some of the translation didn't quite work, and though we tried to be mature, there were times when it was just too amusing- 'just like Chinese women, a panda doesn't leave her cage for a month after giving birth'!!!

Around lunch time we visited Wenshu Yuan, a bustling, atmospheric temple dedicated to Wenshu, the Buddhist incarnation of Wisdom. Unlike other temples we had visited, this felt alive. People came during their lunch break to light incense, bow their heads to their chosen statue, or rub their hands first over a gilded dragon, before by wiping the spirit over themselves. After their visit, people were relaxing in the large open-air teahouse, frequented by elderly Chinese playing cards, knitting or chatting animatedly.

An advantage to visiting Wenshu at lunchtime is the vegetarian restaurant. As we took our seats surrounded by monks we began to feel confused while perusing the menu: beef steak with asparagus, chicken with sweetcorn and pine nuts, etc. I glanced at the monks' dishes and sure enough they appeared to be eating meat. We soon understood that the speciality was creating meat alternatives, which tasted exactly like their animal counterparts. The food was not bad, but if anything, too convincing!

Al, Lynz and I were interested in a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tour which was mentioned very briefly in the Rough Guide, so we endeavoured to find it towards the end of the afternoon. We soon discovered we were on campus. There was no TCM museum but 2 huge hospitals and teaching buildings. A kind security guide led us through a building towards anyone he could find to speak English to the lost souls, who were looking confused and cold.

Soon we were sitting in a nice office with a smart looking man and his assistant. They had the impression we were looking to enrol to learn TCM and if they knew anything about the tour we had read about, they certainly weren't letting on. We managed to explain that we were travelling and were keen to see how TCM worked in practise. A tour was arranged for the next morning. As we left the campus, excited about our upcoming experience, we glanced at the card the gentlemen had handed to us. It appeared we had had an audience with the dean!

The cake shops looked particularly appealing as we walked home and I was drawn towards some beautiful buns. I felt 6, 2 each, would suffice and so made the 6 sign in Chinese (holding your little finger and thumb up, whilst bending the others fingers down), pointed at the buns and said thank you. The next thing I know, I am handing over 6 yuan (60p) for a bag of 22 buns. Sometimes I love the language barrier! We continued home, nibbling our buns unashamedly. I couldn't quite put my finger on the flavour, but not even Alex's belief that it had 'undertones of fish,' could spoil my enjoyment of my bag of buns.

Wednesday 18th November

The girl we had met the previous day turned out to be our guide. The tour began in the packed registration hall of the out-patients building. Hundreds of people were gathered, some eager to see a doctor, others collecting herbal remedies. We continued to the pharmacy. Wall to wall filing cabinets with drawers open wide, held the precious ingredients to good health. Bodies scurried from drawer to drawer, hands delving deep and emerging with colourful handfuls to add to the mix. Flora explained that no 2 remedies were exactly the same as TMC treats the person not the symptoms. Alex and myself, if suffering from the same ailments, would take home differing remedies. This holistic approach appealed.

We were led from floor to floor. As in a conventional hospital it was divided into departments and had specialist doctors. Remembering patient-doctor confidentiality from back home we timidly peered through doors but Flora insisted we enter before beginning her interrogation of the patients regarding their complaints. We need not have concerned ourselves. In each 5m square room it was not uncommon to find anywhere between 5-15 patients.

It seems in China it is common to suffer from partial facial paralysis. For every 1 person in Europe affected, 3 in China will suffer. When we asked why, I wasn't completely sold on Flora's response that it was due to the cold and damp. Call me sceptical. The image of these semi-frozen faces acting as pin cushions was a haunting one.

The visit was fascinating. Some of it made complete sense, like treating spiritual and physical health as one. Would I go to a TCM hospital as my first port of call? Maybe not.

Lynz and I decided to pamper ourselves in the afternoon and went for a Chinese massage. This proved to be a comical outing from the outset. We had located it on our map, yet managed to wander aimlessly for an hour. Giving up we returned to our hostel, where the man on reception laughed and pointed us 2 minutes round the corner. We then underwent something narrowly short of torture.

Lyndsey came off worse. As well as a massage, she ended up having bits of her foot shaved off (I declined after having seen this in action). My feet were plunged into water I assume had been poured from a kettle and we both were burned with what we believe may have been hot coals. Being a larger wimp, I demanded she stop sooner. Lynz had the red marks for a good few hours after. Still, we didn't stop laughing from the moment we sat (lay) down and it was an experience to remember.

Al was pleased to have avoided the massage in favour of a market session. He had bought me a lovely flask, which all the Chinese carry with them at all times, filled with tea and hot water. I'm enjoying using this very much!

Thursday 19th November

Washing, relaxing, ready for the night train to Panzhihua, from which we would transfer to a bus bound for Lijiang.