| Chengdu |
May 22, 2008 10:50 pm
739 Views | I was tired and packed, but still had the energy to spend the day in Chengdu sightseeing instead of sleeping. I can sleep during the day, but for some reason it never makes me feel more refreshed. I usually wake up more tired and with a headache, so I decided to proceed as planned. First lunch.
China is, much like America (at least in my experiences) a country where they like to eat. The lunch is as big as dinner. In Holland we usually eat bread in the morning and for lunch. This changes in the weekend, but the quantity is not much. In China I had the famous Peking Duck, fried rice, veggies and more. So I had to adjust. Till this day on I must say I've not been adjusted well yet, except for gaining a few kilos extra  But the food in general is good. I love Peking Duck with the little pancakes and hoisin sauce, but this place was greasy and not many people inside. It was a hot day. But I didn't care. I was in China to meet someone I knew from the Internet and I was thrilled.
We visited temples and I adjusted to the idea of being in China with a girl I really liked. We hold hands and it felt good. Not many foreign people around and certainly not many foreign couples, but I didn't care. It all felt good and she was full of care for me. So I saw the temples, the Japanese garden, we made photos (and for the first time a lot with me on it), we saw a verbal fighting sales couple in one of the touristic spots and we also made a lot of sweat. It was hot and I thought Chengdu would be cold. There was no sun, just a fog. later on I knew it was not a fog, but smog from the many traffic within Chengdu (and traffic is crowded and they all drive very fast. We even hit a little dog, but it lived). But whatever it was, it made the day even hotter and humid. So I was happy to return to the hotel room.
But I forgot something. Last year I've been in China too and I noticed all the hard beds. No matter where I was laying my head, the bed was hard. In a year I forgot the feeling, but in the morning I had the feeling back. Terrible back pain. A hard bed is maybe good for the back eventually, but for me I will give it a year or two to adjust.
The breakfast at the hotel was nice. I tried out a lemon drink (good), some dough with a sweet filling (good), spicy onions (hot and not good), some pork (not great). So it was an adventure on it's own. Noodles in the morning are not my thing, but many Chinese eat them. Same as with the bed.. I need to adjust.
Lunch was at a great 4 star restaurant part of the bigger brother (or sister) of our hotel. I miss it while thinking about it.
We visited the old town and here I had the feeling I was in China. It was relaxed, clean and the buildings looked like past years. Highly recommended.
The day ended with Starbucks (or Xingbake coffee in China). Yes I saw one and since I don't get it in Holland, I wanted to take my changes. I ordered a latte and we sat at the table. She ordered the plane ticket for the next day to Lijiang and we had to wait for the guy bringing the ticket to us. This is totally different then Holland. In China you call a guy, I suspect he has something to do with travel, but I am still not sure. You talk a lot to him in Chinese and when he comes to your place, it can be a hotel, bar or your bath tub and you give him money. Strange, but it worked. I can get used to that though. Weird, but great system
So we sat there and looked at each other. I was again happy. She was beautiful and sweet. I didn't go to China for China this time (even though it is a beautiful country), but to meet the girl I was talking with for 9 months and I couldn't get over the fact how lucky I was. I was in love. And later on we kissed. No kissing in public places, but our lips did find each other later on.
Recommended:
Thatched Cottage of Du Fu
Sichuan hotel
Jin Li (old part of the city)
Wenshu Temple | |
|
8 Comments | |
| The meeting |
May 22, 2008 4:15 am
510 Views | It was time to go to China and I wasn't that nervous. At least it didn't felt like being nervous. I was missing the growling pain in my stomach, but yet I had to go to the bathroom a lot, so I guess a nervous feeling can occur in many forms.
I flew KLM and it was my first time. Friends warned me. No movie, no service and a very long flight. But luckily they were wrong. The entertainment system was great. You were able to watch movies on demand and even pause it. There was a way to read into information about the guest country (much like Wikipedia), it had games, series, previews and more. So it kept me entertained. I am glad because the flight to Chengdu took around 9 hours.
The whole plane was filled with Chinese people and I was placed next to, what it seemed, the only two other Dutch people. And we talked. They were going to China to buy fireworks for there company. It was their first time and they were invited by their American partner. They were nice, so we talked and made time go faster.
The food was good. It was even Chinese and thus different then the usual 'chicken or pasta?' phrase. I was happy.
But I felt my stomach again. Would she be standing at the gates? And what if not? Would it be easy to get a hotel there with zero knowledge and only a handy Point-it booklet as my weapons? All these things are not good to think about, so I tried to bury it underneath my good hopes. We knew each other 9 months and the online talks all went great. There was some trust and she looked pretty. She also has seen me on web cam and said I was handsome. Still a risk, but life is full of them and sometimes a person just needs to face his demons right? So I knew this all would be good for me, no matter what would happen.
I thought the airport of Chengdu would be bigger because it's an international one, but in fact to me it looked small. Everything went smoothly and it was easy to pick out my green suitcase and leave the airport.
I didn't see her, but she saw me. First impression: pretty and small. Different then the web cam and photos, but all in a positive way. I liked her and we hugged.
She ordered a taxi and we went to the hotel and after that sightseeing in Chengdu.
It was a hot day, but I was happy. | |
|
0 Comments | |
