Dafu and Emei Shan
After Anne's departure Rachel and I were on our own, armed with two phrasebooks and some jottings in note books. On our first night alone we successfuly ordered some dinner and then got lost, and managed to get a taxi back to the hotel.
The following morning we were going on a two day tour to the largest buddha in the world and a mountain with some temples on it (Dafu and Emei Shan). The tour was very Chinese in its organisation and we were the only non-chinese on it. Luckily we fell on our feet in usual style and the girl sitting next to me on the bus, Emily, had been studying in Melbourne for three years and could tell us the important information being given on the tour.
The first stop was for a gobbled lunch in a Chinese restaurant, I'm sure we had a slap up meal within five minutes then we were allowed to roam around the area with the Buddha in it on our own. It was absolutely sweltering but still very interesting and impressive. On the way back to the bus there were lots of stalls where they would peel a whole cucumber for you, except for a handle on the stem, as a refreshing snack - surprisingly good.
We thought that was it for the day until we stopped somewhere and Emily said we could get a free foot massage. We were all marched into a large room with white walls and benches all round the outside. Then an army of assistants walked in with washing up bowls lined with plastic bags and full of scolding hot brown water (full of nutritious herbs apparently). Then after a twenty minute talk in Chinese about the various benefits of herbs, in walked twenty masseuses (one each) who massaged our feet for forty minutes (this definitely wasn't mentioned by the travel agent!) This was all good fun as communication was through Emily and it was such a bizarre experience. The hard sell of products continued, but the lack of a common language helped us escape for free.
We hadn't been on the bus ten minutes when we stopped again as Emily explained, for some free tea. Then we got herded into this building which had this lecture theatre / cinema room where they first showed us a film about the tea grown there, then it turned into a stage where there was first a Chinese tea ceremony (with hypnotic movments). Then a guy with an exceedingly long teapot appeared, who was the cross between a majorette and a tea-kung-fu expert, his extreme tea pouring act was surprisingly impressive. This was all washed down with some free tea, a quick tour of the tea museum and a look round the shop.
Finally we got to our hotel which was very upmarket and had another guzzled meal before being let loose. We explored the town which was really fun and bustling. The streets full of people wondering around, with little shops and markets everywhere. We managed some shopping with pretty comprehensive negotiations, which was a definite confidence boost.
Today we started at six and got a series of buses and cable cars up the mountain. The whole thing was packed with people, which took away from the mysticism and tranquility of a mountain dotted with monasteries and temples. It was a fun day, but we had to stay with the tour group the whole time. There was some free time to go to 'the monkey zone' - this is where some alledgedly 'lovely monkies' (in truth scary creatures who will steal any food and even nick peoples bags!).
We are now back in Chengdu and tried a Chinese fast food joint for dinner, it was cheaper than some of the other places we've been going to, but not nearly so good, so I think we'll fork out the extra 50p in future! We had a little trouble ordering, but fortunately the waitress understood out troubles and wrote down her question in Chinese characters, which was obviously much easier to understand....
Tomorrow we're off to Xi'an we're flying so it should all be very easy!
Cheers,
Ali
The following morning we were going on a two day tour to the largest buddha in the world and a mountain with some temples on it (Dafu and Emei Shan). The tour was very Chinese in its organisation and we were the only non-chinese on it. Luckily we fell on our feet in usual style and the girl sitting next to me on the bus, Emily, had been studying in Melbourne for three years and could tell us the important information being given on the tour.
The first stop was for a gobbled lunch in a Chinese restaurant, I'm sure we had a slap up meal within five minutes then we were allowed to roam around the area with the Buddha in it on our own. It was absolutely sweltering but still very interesting and impressive. On the way back to the bus there were lots of stalls where they would peel a whole cucumber for you, except for a handle on the stem, as a refreshing snack - surprisingly good.
We thought that was it for the day until we stopped somewhere and Emily said we could get a free foot massage. We were all marched into a large room with white walls and benches all round the outside. Then an army of assistants walked in with washing up bowls lined with plastic bags and full of scolding hot brown water (full of nutritious herbs apparently). Then after a twenty minute talk in Chinese about the various benefits of herbs, in walked twenty masseuses (one each) who massaged our feet for forty minutes (this definitely wasn't mentioned by the travel agent!) This was all good fun as communication was through Emily and it was such a bizarre experience. The hard sell of products continued, but the lack of a common language helped us escape for free.
We hadn't been on the bus ten minutes when we stopped again as Emily explained, for some free tea. Then we got herded into this building which had this lecture theatre / cinema room where they first showed us a film about the tea grown there, then it turned into a stage where there was first a Chinese tea ceremony (with hypnotic movments). Then a guy with an exceedingly long teapot appeared, who was the cross between a majorette and a tea-kung-fu expert, his extreme tea pouring act was surprisingly impressive. This was all washed down with some free tea, a quick tour of the tea museum and a look round the shop.
Finally we got to our hotel which was very upmarket and had another guzzled meal before being let loose. We explored the town which was really fun and bustling. The streets full of people wondering around, with little shops and markets everywhere. We managed some shopping with pretty comprehensive negotiations, which was a definite confidence boost.
Today we started at six and got a series of buses and cable cars up the mountain. The whole thing was packed with people, which took away from the mysticism and tranquility of a mountain dotted with monasteries and temples. It was a fun day, but we had to stay with the tour group the whole time. There was some free time to go to 'the monkey zone' - this is where some alledgedly 'lovely monkies' (in truth scary creatures who will steal any food and even nick peoples bags!).
We are now back in Chengdu and tried a Chinese fast food joint for dinner, it was cheaper than some of the other places we've been going to, but not nearly so good, so I think we'll fork out the extra 50p in future! We had a little trouble ordering, but fortunately the waitress understood out troubles and wrote down her question in Chinese characters, which was obviously much easier to understand....
Tomorrow we're off to Xi'an we're flying so it should all be very easy!
Cheers,
Ali
