We left Lanzhou (and Gansu Province) on Tuesday afternoon on Train T24 bound for Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province 18 hours and 1,200 km down the line. T24 originates in Lhasa 2,400 km up the line from Lanzhou and stops in the latter for only a few minutes. This train was excellent too; modern, smooth, clean and fresh. Additionally, as this service plies the Tibet route, there were oxygen outlets to each bed although these were certainly not required for the lowland section we were travelling on. We were lucky again in having a four-bed compartment to ourselves, and the time passed quickly assisted by some reading and a movie on the laptop.In Chengdu we checked out a few hotels in Tianfu Square in the city centre before settling on the modern and comfortable Kaibin Inn on Shuncheng Lu. Chengdu is only about 80 km from the epicenter of the recent tragic earthquake that destroyed some nearby towns and killed 90,000 people. Chengdu itself suffered only minor damage but tourists are now staying away in their droves in what is normally the peak tourist season. But I figure that the recent quake will have relieved the tectonic pressures built up over decades and another significant quake here is unlikely for a very long time. Certainly the locals who rely on the tourism industry are doing it tough too and are keen for visitors to start coming again as soon as possible.
Leafy Chengdu is modernizing fast with its skyline constantly sprouting cranes and new apartment complexes. Sichuan province is well known for its spicy cuisine so we had to try one of Chengdu’s many hotpot restaurants. Each table had its own bubbling cauldron of chilli oil further fortified with whole red chillis, and bowls of Sichuan pepper and sesame and peanut oil. Diners select various meats and vegetables on skewers and plunge them into their steaming cauldrons for fast cooking. It was hot work, what with the gas burners blazing under the tables, the hot humid Chengdu air and the fiery chillis running riot. Many men in the crowded restaurant ominously stripped to the waist before starting their meal. We kept our shirts on but needed a double measure of beer to quench the fires in our throats. A good meal and an interesting experience but not one you would want to endure every day of the week.
Sichuan province has a high percentage of the fewer than 2,000 Giant Panda Bears surviving in the world today. On Thursday we visited the Panda Breeding Research Centre on the outskirts of Chengdu where scientists are helping to save this endangered species by increasing the knowledge base and international cooperation on Panda breeding. As well as the black and white Pandas everyone is familiar with, the Centre also has a small population of the lesser known but equally endangered Red Pandas that look more like big red raccoons. We arrived early to see the Pandas have their breakfast of bamboo stalks and leaves. It’s necessary to be there early as Pandas apparently don’t do much apart from sleeping once breakfast is over. Two hours of Panda-ing was enough for us too and we were back at our hotel at around 11am so that we could have our own breakfast.
