Hi all,
I know I said I wouldn't be posting until Beijing, but I have some time (and wifi) at the airport so here is today's post.
Last night Lian and I went to her Mum's for dinner. Lian lives on the 19th floor of an apartment building, and her Mum and Grandma live on the 39th floor of the next one across. So we walked across via a bridge and got the lift. Dinner was delicious and really interesting, because neither her Mum or Grandma spoke any English! So it basically was Lian translating both ways the whole time. They were both lovely and after hearing about our day at the panda sanctuary said they would go and see the baby today.
Then we left and hired bikes. We rode to an outdoor shopping complex and went to a small art installation that Lian had kept meaning to visit. It was for a sunglasses company called 'Gentle Monster' and had some really cool features installed. The sunnies themselves were very quirky and expensive!
Then we rode our bikes for about 20 minutes to a rooftop bar/cinema. Luckily it's pretty flat here because the traffic and crazy cutting in and out makes for a very interesting cycling experience!! We weaved our way in and out between unaware pedestrians and taxi drivers who were all in a hurry. Yet somehow amongst the craziness of it all, the system works. I felt really safe and got really good at anticipating the cars and people around me.
Lian bought me a Chinese dessert that was basically jelly with brown sugar, goji berries, kiwi fruit, watermelon, peach and sultanas. It was delicious! We finished those off and then went and watched a movie called 'Searching for Sugarman' at a bar called Berlinhaus. The movie was unexpectedly good (I went in with zero expectations!) and the best part was it was free and in English.
We caught the bus home and I had an early night. Slept much better than the first night!!
I got up about 8, packed up and left Lian's. She had to work this morning so I got the metro alone to meet another friend of Shine's called Lingling. People stared at me a lot more today when I was alone, but everyone is very friendly. A little boy on an escalator looked at me and proudly said "good morning!"
I was a tiny bit nervous I would stuff up the metro, but I did the same as I did in Russia. I can't read the alphabet so I just associated the Chinese characters with shapes/letters I'm familiar with. I got off the train at "cross, J, house" (aka Culture Palace station). My system worked - I had no issues!! I was however a bit early so just hung out in the station. That got some funny looks from people!!
Lingling and her friend met me at the station and together the three of us visited the Jinsha Site Museum. This museum houses an archaeological site that was discovered in 2001. It's 15,000 square metres in size and the civilisation of the Sha people that was uncovered was 3000+ years old.
First we visited the building that showed the actual archaeological site and then we walked around learning about the way of life of the Sha people and looking at some of the artefacts including elephant tusks, pottery, religious items and jewellery. The two girls were so lovely and we chatted the whole time we were together. Occasionally they would come across a word they didn't know in English but translated it on google very quickly. They asked me lots of questions and were amazed that Shine had told them I had travelled to 50+ countries. They kept asking "have you been to_____?" And then would ask me to tell them a story about that country if the answer was yes!! Lingling was funny, her favourite word was "beautiful". She kept saying that the bronze, jade and gold artefacts in the museum were all beautiful and would laugh before saying it each time because she knew how much she had said it!! To her credit though the colours of some of the items were amazing.
The gardens of the museum site were also really lovely. We walked through them and then got an uber to a nearby restaurant. Lingling and her friend asked if I liked spicy food. I said I was happy to try things but that typically I'm hopeless with spice! They ordered something "very mild" and when I ate it it was so spicy I couldn't stop coughing!! I felt so embarrassed. I simply couldn't eat it! So they got me an egg and tofu soup (which normally wouldn't have been my cup of tea, but after nearly burning my throat away I was happy with anything not spicy!!). It was surprisingly yummy!
Lian came and picked me up so we said our goodbyes. The girls insisted on paying which was really lovely. I'm now at the airport with a couple of hours to spare. People had told me that getting through Chinese airports involved countless security checks and took a really long time, but apart from my suitcase being scanned upon entry nothing out of the usual happened. I couldn't figure out the machine so the lady let me check in at the counter, and I got frisked at the security check. But all in all pretty quick and I'm sitting here waiting to head to Beijing now. It's really hot in here so I'm hoping my flight will be on time.
I've had a fantastic time in Chengdu and am so grateful for Lian's hospitality. She was an amazing host and I'll never forget her kindness and my time here!
See you in the capital!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
enjoy your trip~my vpn finally works~
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