Sichuan – Traveling Noodles

China is a great country to travel and explore and we made many great memories on the trip. This was my first trip to this great and diverse country and we got to experience some new cultures, way of life and cuisines. China has rich past and a highly developed language that has been used since ancient history.

Chinese population converses in Mandarin and Cantonese along with many other dialects and English is not a popular language which is cause for many adventurous for the English speaking traveler when traveling in China. Since I did not find a comprehensive list of tips before traveling to China, I decided to jot down some of my recommendations from my experiences in traversing this great and unique country.

Forward your emails– Google and Facebook do not work in China hence forward your emails from Gmail to your other accounts such as outlook, yahoo, etc. if you would like to keep in touch. Viber and WhatsApp and good ways to connect or call folks back home. Baidu is the search engine that is popularly used in China.
Use the metro – Most major cities in China have a well-connected metro system which you can navigate without learning mandarin. Many of the signs are in English as well and you can purchase tickets from a kiosk at the station.
Click pictures of the taxi card– Chinese streets and address have an English name and completely different Chinese name. So if you want to travel by cab to a particular place ask your hotel to write it down for you or search online for the place and keep pictures of the place with the Chinese names prominently mentioned.
Make a friend who knows the language– This tip comes handy when the taxi driver is hurtling the cab in the opposite direction from the one intended by you shaking his head and saying No, No, No quite empathetically. A call to a friend who can converse with the driver and explain to him exactly where you want to go comes as a God send in such situations.
Use a tour company or tour guide–
Forbidden Kingdom, Beijing China

If like me you can’t make local friends on such short notices it is a good idea to travel with a tour guide or go with a tour company. Most tour companies in China can provide you an English speaking tour guide and a driver with a car. Traveling with a tour guide is great especially if you want to explore places that are outside the city limits.
Try the local cuisine– Each province in China has different dishes and entirely different cuisines, eat local cuisines and try new places as much as you can. For example one can sample a variety of bamboo dishes in Sichuan and Muslim influenced food in the north west of China. Most of the cities and restaurants prepare beef, pork, chicken, lamb and of course vegetables, it is rare to find places that have other forms of meat contrary to the popular stereotype.
Ordering at restaurants– Most restaurants in the city have a picture menu which you can point and order. In case you want to order something specific ask your friend, concierge or tour guide to write down a few safe options for you in Mandarin.
Bargaining in China–
Yu Garden, Shanghai

Chinese markets are a great place to shop. There are all types of markets in China from high end malls to flea markets and fake merchandise markets. Most of the merchandise you can get are good quality too. Bargaining in local markets happens over the calculator where the shop keeper would enter their price and you are expected to key in the amount you are willing to pay. There are apps available that can be downloaded which give the correct price that you can pay at a fake market.
Say no to Touts – Resist the urge to buy that good looking phone which a stranger wants to sell to you at the departure gate at the airport. There are all sorts of scams that you can imagine and some that you can’t. Be on your guard and be mindful of the local laws.
Paying the uninformed tourist price– This is one lesson I learnt the hard way. The concierge at my hotel sold me tickets for a hop on hop off bus tour in Shanghai for my toddler and me. Half way through the tour I realized that there weren’t many Chinese tourists on the bus which was not the case at all the major attractions that day. As luck would have it I lost my ticket and the tour operator at the hop on site would not let me on without me buying another ticket for a 100 RMB. As I contemplated my next move in order to reach the hotel with my toddler I chanced upon another tour bus that was operating on the same route also with English and French sound tracks which cost only 30 RMB. Hence the day was saved and a precious lesson learnt to research the different options available before approaching the hotel for advice.
Be prepared for security checks– Metro stations and other tourist attractions in China have security checks hence it is advisable to not lug metal around when traveling in China especially if you have a lot of attractions to cover in a day.
Smog is a serious issue in China– Major cities in China like Beijing and Shanghai grapple with pollution and smog advisories are issued. It is advisable to limit travel on such days and/ or wear masks and protective glasses. We were pretty lucky not to have got stuck with smog when we were in China.

This New Year we embarked on a trip to China as a family. We covered four cities in four different parts of China in order to get a complete overview of this amazing and sometimes misunderstood country. Our journey started in Beijing the capital city, Xian- the capital during ancient times and the start of the Silk Route, Chengdu-a major city in western China and Shanghai – the bustling metropolis and port city.

Chengdu is a city which is perpetually under a cover of clouds, the city sees the sun only 100 days in a year. Hence Chengdu has a long and romantic relationship with the sun and has the sun as the city’s symbol since ancient times. The name Chengdu means ‘becoming a capital’ and it was once was home to the imperial palace. Currently an impressive square called Tianfu Square which forms the hub of the subway system in Chengdu stands at the same site.

Chengdu is home to many monasteries and temples of Buddhism and Taoism. We wanted to get in touch with nature in China after having traveled in the north of the country where winter had laid the countryside barren. Seeing greenery in the misty city of Chengdu was a welcome sight. We embarked on a trip to Mt Qingcheng which is home to one the famous Tao temples in the land.

The religion of Taoism is based on the ancient principles of Yin and Yang and is one of the 5 recognized religions in China. It was quite prominent till the 17th century after which it slowly fell out of favor. There are many Gods which are worshiped in Taoism and every river and every mountain has a God. The Mt of Qingcheng is famous as the birthplaces of Taoism in 142 AD. It is from this point in the Sichuan province that the religion of Taoism perpetuated to the entire region of China.

Mt Qingcheng is adjacent to the UNESCO protected Dujiangyan irrigation system which was built 2000 years ago and is still in use. It is an impressive and massive project that ancient China mastered and built by creating channels, controls and management systems. Climbing up Qingcheng we discovered only Yin (good) as the tall trees and misty mountains charmed us. The only yang (bad) was probably our sore calf muscles and back from carrying a toddler up a mountain with bodies that have been unaccustomed to exercise for sometime now.

Trying to go up a mountain- even one which has a cable car which covers half the distance for you, in winter and with a toddler was quite a feat. I congratulate myself and my husband for accomplishing that. The cold mountain air though was not harsh, it was soothing instead and the music that surrounded us made us determined to reach the top. The mist covered most of the view from above but nevertheless it was a peaceful journey and completely worth the effort.

Qingcheng mountain is divided into four parts. The first part is a series of steps leading to the cable car station. The second part is the cable car station that has a man made lake where you can opt for a boat ride or go around the lake. The third part is steep series of stairs that lead you to the temple and palaces and the fourth part is another steeper and more adventurous climb to a pagoda. There is a more picturesque part in the back of the mountain and is rarely visited by tourists.

Cured meat hung out to dry for the spring festival

We ate at a restaurant at the base of the mountain before we took on the mountain as it was close to my kids lunch time. The restaurant had spicy Sichuan fare with the numbing Sichuan pepper in most of the dishes. The best dishes we found in Sichuan were Kung Pao chicken, bamboo shoots and mushroom dishes and an eggplant dish with numbing fish sauce. Most of these dishes are served with an accompaniment of rice for the table (fellow Indians, remember schezwan sauce, well it finds its origins in this part of China).

The Tao temple on top of the mountain has retained most of its ancient charm.The priest wore traditional attires and had a single bun hairstyle. The devotees prayed by lighting candles and incense sticks (some of them imported from India). The temple was also home to a famous Chinese contemporary painter and has a small exhibition of some of his paintings and photographs including one with Rabindranath Tagore.

The seclusion and the natural beauty of the mountain draws many souls and romantics to this mountain. This mountain range has 36 peaks, caves, waterfalls and a huge area covered by green forests. It also has a few palaces and pavilions were the ancient emperors, artists and believers came to find peace. The palaces on Qingcheng give the feeling of a palace on the clouds as the mountain cuts through the cloud cover of Chengdu.

Incense Stick burner in front of the palace

*Photos taken on a Nokia Lumia phone. As toddler plus bulky camera equals broken back. Credited to Razor Rasu.

Sounds of the Mountain – See the video with the volume turned up as the music is the caveat of this video. The video also has my kid, our guide and me climbing the mountain (no he did not climb the mountain solo, he was carried most of the way). Video also taken on the phone hence shaky but the music is heavenly, do listen.