Shangri-la : Part 1 - Start Point in Chengdu

The year 2012 is coming to an end, and I am not sure if the world is coming to an end as predicted by Nostra Damos. Mother Nature unleashed her nightmares year after year, and you can't help but wonder how true is that. It is scary, but I really hope it never happens. There is so much more to achieve. So much to see. 

For the last holidays in 2012, I visited Shangri-la. It was suggested by my friend, the same friend who initiated my Tibet and Nepal trip in 2011. Now, the only Shangri-la I ever know is the Hotel! What a discovery when I looked up on the Internet to see that Shangri-la means 'the last beautiful place on Earth'. Or so I could conclude that too from the different definitions I looked up from the Internet. In Tibetan language, it could either mean 'sun and moon in heart', or 'heaven on earth'. Well, what I know is it is a place I must not miss out! Since then, I had been excited to see what could have made this place earn this recognition.

I researched further on the route we were taking, and saw that there were 2 places (Yading and Zhongdian) with the name Shangri-la. I got confused, and according to my friend, the Shangri-la we are heading to is the place previously named as Zhongdian. And I asked her, what about Yading? Apparently, Yading is nicknamed as Shangri-la. And let me tell you this, from these 2 places, in my own humble opinion, I feel that Yading deserved to be named Shangri-la instead. 

In a gist, our trip is a 12-day trip, that begins in Chengdu, and we hire a van that will drive us along the scenic route which will ultimately end in Shangri-la. So, from Chengdu in the Sichuan Province, we will end our hired ride in Shangri-la in Yunnan Province. Both provinces are located in the southwest of China. Very close to Tibet, and hence, you will see lots of Tibetan influence in the culture, which can be seen in my photos. From Shangri-la, we find our own transport onwards where we will finally fly off from Kunming. It is an interesting trip, and I will share them with you. In total, I spent RM4,800 which includes the airflight tickets of RM1,800.

20 Oct 2012 : My flight to Chengdu begins in Malaysia with AirAsia. Once again, I fly wherever AirAsia goes. Haha! Look, AirAsia flies to Kathmandu now. Now, it will be cheaper for me visit Nepal, and I can do the Everest Base Camp trek. It was a 4.5-hour flight and I had so much time to kill. So, on the plane, I read up on the places that we were going to visit. I had searched on them earlier for myself to appreciate the places, as I know I won't be able to understand these places if explained in Mandarin. *confession of a banana*

At 1.40pm, we reached Chengdu Airport. We had used the same travel agent we used for Tibet. The agent is now working on his own. That is me and the travel agent, Peter. It is unfortunate that he did not completely deliver as per the signed agreement. We voiced our our dissatisfaction during the trip, and after we were back, I sent an email to him.

Peter had booked a hotel for us - Golden Lemon Hotel. 

Funny incident happened. I was in the van, and my friend said - We have reached!
Me - Where where?
Friend - There .. it's stated - Golden Lemon
Me - WHERE??
Friend - That tall building. See those words - *she read the Mandarin characters*
Me - *speechless banana*

In the hotel, we counted the monies we were suppose to pay the agent. Our package was RMB2683  per person for 7 days only. The remaining 5 days were by our own. The package covers accommodation for 5 nights (the first night in Chengdu was borne by the agent) including the driver's too, and the hired van for 7 days. That is a lot of money which the agent carried around the whole day while bringing us around. 

After settling our stuff in the hotel, we agreed to go to Manjushri Monastery. It was a walk to the bus stop. It cost RMB2 for the bus ride to our stop. From the bus stop, it was a short walk to the train station.

Exiting the station, I looked up and saw this building towering above me. I love the design of the building.

While walking towards the Monastery, we saw a long queue in front of a shop. Curious, we stopped and went to see what was so interesting. Some interesting food that everyone don't mind waiting for. So, we chose cold noodles and beef.

Rice flour skin was being baked! This method of baking reminds me of naan, a flatbread famous in South Asia.

And the supplementary (in addition to the main ones on the menu) ingredients - various spices, sauces and cut spring onions (on the left). The ingredients were mixed in the bowl and wrapped in the baked rice flour skin.

While waiting for our turn, my friend went to a convenient store next door and bought a packet of preserved beef. The meat tastes nice. Nothing unusual. It was easy to chew.

Finally, we got our snack. The lady must be the one who introduced this snack. Our cold noodle snack was delicious. Although a bit sourish which I think could be due to the vinegar.

Then, it was a short walk to Manjushri Monastery. It was 5.30pm when we reached there, and the place was close. So, we just walked in the streets of the Monastery.

We bought potato crackers. We took the original flavour and the hot and spicy flavour. Chengdu is located in Sichuan Province which is known for its hot and spicy food. He was using the traditional method of weighing. Excellent!

Exotic food on sale. Scorpions and starfish are the ones that I have never seen before. Did not buy any of them. I wondered if the scorpion's tail will choked me to death. Haha!

For dinner, the travel agent brought us to a restaurant famed for its hot and spicy hotpot. People were waiting outside while waiting for an empty table. I believe it must be really famous if you have people waiting to eat. We got a table in less than 10 minutes though. To order, just tick on the menu on whichever dishes you desired. Good thing my friends can read Mandarin, and all the food ordering is done by them.

The wok of soup came and the travel agent said that this is not ours. That is the common arrangement of soup in this restaurant. Well, basically, in most places in Chengdu. Unfortunately, my friends are not a fan of hot and spicy soup. We wanted the bigger space to be filled with plain soup and the inside to be hot and spicy. In other words, the soup's position is to be switched.

The condiments - garlic, parsley, oyster sauce (the one in black), and sesame oil.

And what we ordered came. Our bill came to RMB265 but because we did not take the receipt, we were charged RMB250. What a difference it makes. A very interesting concept.

So this is how the condiment is mixed - Put the garlic and parsley (I ran out of parsley) in the sesame oil, and plop oyster sauce inside the sesame oil. To give the sesame oil a hot and spicy flavour, add the hot and spicy soup inside.

And then, dip the cooked dish (here, it's a meatball) inside the mixed sesame oil, and pop it in the mouth. So, by the end of the meal, I think my mouth is layered with a thick lining of oil. But good thing is, sesame oil is good for you. What sesame oil is to traditional lifestyle, is olive oil to modern lifestyle.

After dinner, we were going to a Bar Street. We took the train there, and had a short walk towards the street. Along the walk to the Bar Street, there was a nice view that the travel agent pointed to us. The Bar Street is located on the left side of the photo.

Of course, being a Bar Street, it is filled with pubs and bars. We just randomly chose one by the river. We ordered 12 bottles of beer that comes to RMB180, a plate of fruits that costs RMB60, and the bar gave a free plate of hot and spicy radish. 

We talked, laughed and drank for about an hour, said goodbye to the travel agent and headed back to our Hotel. We couldn't wait for our road trip tomorrow.