A Satisfying Day in Chengdu

I’d say I’ve been more than lucky in my life. I’m just 20 and I’ve traveled not only around the U.S. but also around a few countries in Europe. I’d say that I’ve always been a good traveler—willing, curious, and open to new things. 

This past week was our “fall break”, so with a full 9 days to fill up we were obviously going to travel. Amy, Tim, and I went to Sichuan (四川). However, this trip was different from all my others in one significant way: we planned it ourselves. (When I say “we”, I mean Amy and myself.) We picked the destination, compared flight prices, bought our tickets, did some research, and made an itinerary. We packed our bags, and without any parents, guardians, chaperons, or even fluent Mandarin speakers to accompany us, we flew. Really, we flew the whole week, soaring from the joy of success. It was a good feeling.

Day 1. Chengdu (成都)

We left on Saturday, giving us enough time to recuperate from midterms ending on Friday and pack up for the coming week. Not wanting to waste any time, though, we caught an early flight leaving the airport around 7:30 a.m. As tired and disgruntled as I was from a pre-sunrise wake-up call, the decision was worth it. We landed in Chengdu in time to drop off our things at Holly’s Hostel where Amy and I stayed the first night. We checked out our digs, which included very helpful staff, a homey atmosphere, and a clean room. Not bad for an inexpensive hostel. Tim stayed at Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel, which is impressive to say the least. They have a huge ethereal garden around their hostel in a small alley in the city. You can borrow books, movies, sit and chat with other foreigners in their common area, and talk to their bilingual staff about different activities in the area. After Tim dropped his stuff off there, we hopped another cab to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Every website and guidebook said to get their as early as possible in the morning. Apparently the pandas come out in the morning for food and play and then pass out for the rest of the day, making the afternoon only good for watching lazy and unconscious pandas. We were upset about missing the action, but we really could only get there in the afternoon, so we headed over expecting to see some adorable snoozing bears. Instead, the 58 kuai entrance fee bought us a priceless experience of laughing at pandas who were shucking bamboo, climbing trees, rolling around and playing with each other.

My horrific zoo experience made me slightly hesitant about what I would see, but the sufficient fame and resources that the research center receives ensures the quality of panda care. I never stopped grinning, walking around and large, open play-pens where the pandas spend their carefree days. It’s amazing how therapeutic animals are, even if it’s just watching them from afar. I guarantee, if you see a panda climb to the top of a skinny tree at the sound of a loud noise and then struggle awkwardly to get back down you’ll at least crack a smile. And if you witness two fat pandas participating in, essentially, a slap fight that results in one rolling down the side of the hill or falling off of the wood jungle gym you’ll probably laugh out loud. We definitely did.

Grinning wildly and filled with a deep joy and satisfaction for life, we left the park. We had to take a taxi back to the center of town were we could grab some food and head to bed early so Amy and I could get up the next morning around 4:30 for yet another obscenely early flight (Tim decided to take a 10 hour bus to Songpan the next day instead). Although it was our first day in Sichuan, it was not our first day in China, so we at least knew to ignore the people coming up to us asking if we need a taxi driver.

Travel tip: NEVER accept a ride from a taxi driver who approaches you on the street and offers you a ride. It’s not lucrative for them to waste time on the street looking for passengers. Those cars are usually privately owned, and they have neither a meter inside nor any regulation from a company, etc.

So, we decided to get into a marked taxi with a working, running meter. The driver was friendly and talkative and we had a fairly pleasant ride…until we noticed that his meter was going awfully fast. It seemed that nearly every minute the price went up a couple kuai. We also noticed that the license that will sit atop a real cabby’s dashboard was conspicuously absent. About half way through the drive we were pretty certain that this was not a normal meter, and by the end of our nearly 70 kuai ride, which maybe should have cost 30 at most, we realized we had been taken advantage of pretty badly. Unwilling to start a fight with a strange cab driver, we forked over the money and started looking for dinner.

Travel tip: Sometimes you will get taken advantage of in China. Get over it. 

Of course its better to avoid these situations by paying close attention to what’s going on around you and by using your instincts, but in the end it’s not worth wasting your time and possibly risking your safety by fighting over what probably amounts to only a few American dollars.

After some walking around with hungry bellies and no suitable prospects for food, we decided to grab another taxi to go back to a Tibetan restaurant right by our hotel. In the car the driver told us how 70-80% of all the cabs that wait by the Panda Base are fake. He said that it’s just not profitable for them to wait out there so far away from the city so it’s really easy to get taken advantage of.

Dinner was pleasant. The Tibetan place a few doors down from Holly’s hostel was oddly large and slightly sketchy as far as setup and decoration was concerned, but the price was reasonable and the food was good. We talked about politics, life views, and the Tibet situation over some delicious bread, butter tea (a Tibetan specialty), and yak meat (a new favorite of mine).

Despite our taxi incident (and some difficulty finding good dinner), we looked back on our day with pride, having successfully accomplished a full, fun day without any major mishaps or problems.