For an unforgettable journey there can be no place better to begin than Chengdu in China’s sensual Sichuan province in the south; then onto Guilin and ending in paradise Yangshuo.
AIR CHINA, connects Mumbai and Bangalore to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan. The flight from Mumbai takes four-and-ahalf hours and lands you in time for a sumptuous Chinese meal to begin your day. For the adventurous traveller, Sichuan offers a cuisine very different from your idea of Chinese, except for the popular Kung Pao chicken. It is simply great food with an amazing variety – and a blend of the delicate and hot spices!
Once in Chengdu head straight for the majestic Emei Mountain after having parked yourself at a traveller’s lodge in a forested surrounding. On way to Emei, a detour will take you to Leshan where stands the tallest Buddha in the world carved out of a mountain, the only of its kind after the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. You could climb to the head of the Buddha or marvel at its giant toes where according to our young guide Alex you could host a party. The Giant Buddha of Leshan, carved out of a hillside in the 8th century looks down on the confluence of three rivers. A ferry ride down the river gives you breathtaking views of the Buddha, sitting in a rather pensive mood. At 71m high, the Leshan Buddha is just a metre short of the Qutb Minar in Delhi and can be seen for miles. In fact, legend has it that the confluence of the three rivers was a danger for early sailors but after the Buddha was built in the 8th century it has given safe passage to sailors.
After the Leshan Buddha reach Meishan and take a break before you ascend Mount Emei the next morning. At night take a stroll down and you will come across lively eating places and pubs well into the night, with young boys and girls crooning at tables, families having fun, young men playing cards or a father and daughter sharing a drink over a full steamed cod fish. It’s simply brilliant – the unending assortment of foods, some queer some audacious, a general air of fun and frolic.
I’ve never had so many people come up and pose with me for photographs. Mothers brought their little kids to pose with me – I’m sure I didn’t look like an alien. It was a warm feeling. And I never had so many women – both young and old – surrounding my table while I downed a bottle of beer. This minicarnival of lights, song and cheer is a regular night. I could go on all night and feast (already had dinner at the hotel before venturing) on some Ox tripe, frogs or maybe pig’s tongue. Ah! Next time.
Next morning was the drive up to Mount Emei through wooded forests and bending roads till you reached the cable car to take you to the summit. As you climb up the more than 3000 mhigh-mountain, the air gets nippy; but you can rent jackets at the cable car station if the weather gets nasty. Where the cable car drops you, you suddenly find yourself placed over a bed of clouds swirling the mountains from which rise the majestic and beautiful golden statue of the Bodhisattva or Samantabhadra also known as the Lord of the Truth. Known in Chinese as Puxian, he is the patron Bodhisattva of Mount Emei and represents the practice and meditation of all Buddhas. Samantabhadra forms the Shakyamuni trinity in Mahayana Buddhism together with Shakyamuni and fellow disciple Manjusri.
Mt Emei is one of four sacred Buddhist mountains in China and the highest. Cloaked in cloud, mist and chants of Buddhist shlokas, it is an unforgettable spiritual experience. Despite the hundreds of tourists, mainly Chinese, who go about offering prayers, burning incense, completing parikramas or simply gawking, one can lose oneself in some strange solitude.
Before heading back to Chengdu and taking off for gorgeous Guilin, don’t forget to head for the Panda Reserve. Especially if you’re with kids, it could be the time of their lives watching the cuddly soft animals feed on bamboo and play with one another.
The Giant Panda, or the panda bear, is a creature so mysterious that its reputation is beginning to take on a mythical status. One of the few large animals that do not fall anywhere in the normal food chain, the Giant Panda is neither a predator nor a prey. Surviving solely on the swift growing bamboo, a selfgenerating plant, the Giant Panda has no ecological influence on the habitat it thrives in, making its value to the world somewhat dubious. Complicating this is the fact that the Panda is one of the most endangered large animals out there, and the protection and upkeep of this unique creature is an expensive and exhausting process. On our visit to the Chengdu Panda Reserve, we were able to see a rare glimpse of the Giant Panda.
The Chengdu Panda Center is, quite literally, the world's largest giant and red panda reserve. The center’s main purpose is to educate visitors as well as breed, raise, and protect the endangered and huggable Giant Panda. If any place deserves the distinction as a national treasure, the breeding centre would be it. In fact, the entry ticket goes on to say that it is the "Charm of China, Cradle of Pandas." After a hike around the park, it is easy to see why.
Hunted historically for its pelt, and with its natural habitat of bamboo forests declining swiftly, there are only about a 1000 Pandas left in the wild. While there has been a great support for the preservation of the Panda, both in China and internationally, the valiant efforts are not seeing enough results in the increase in the Panda population. With support and more research, it is hoped that the steady decline in Pandas will slowly reverse itself, for it would be a terrible shame to lose these striking and gentle bears. There are some small shops in the reserve selling a whole host of Panda souvenirs. But then anywhere you go in Chengdu there is no dearth of Pandas (soft toys that is).
The flight to Guilin from Chengdu is less than two hours, much like DelhiMumbai. If you take an evening flight you can check into a hotel and prepare yourself for a hike up to the Longji terraced hills the next morning. A two-hour drive from Guilin takes you to the Longsheng region, home to some of China’s many ethnic minorities. The terraced hillsides offer an amazing sight because for centuries local communities have grown rice on these hillsides with a simple yet efficient terracing and watering system. Another attraction is the people who you keep bumping on your climb up and down. The area is home to a large number of minorities such as the Dong, Zhuang, Yao and Miao who still preserve their way of life. The climb can be steep but it’s worth it. Else you can avail “human’ taxis that will cart you up if you’re okay with the idea much like the service offered in most of our places of pilgrimage that sit on mountain tops. On the way down you can stop at the excellent Meiyou restaurant which actually means “This is no restaurant.” The food is excellent and don’t forget to try the chicken in a bamboo. Running for over 30 years the place proudly proclaims that it does not serve warm beer, rip-offs or offer bad service.
On the way down, one ran into an Indian couple with two kids from Pune – one 12, the girl 9: An unusual sight; goes to show that more and more Indians are venturing out to discover gems closer home. All along the climb are numerous stalls selling all kinds of curious, jewellery, ethnic wear. Be ready for some aggressive selling and heavy bargaining. You’ll be lucky if you can catch some glimpse of the tribe whose women don’t cut their hair some growing long enough to sweep the floor. Back to Guilin catch the Mirage Guilin show in the city which will transport you to an hour of lights, music and acrobatic delight – little wonder this country leads world gymnastics.
Get ready for the most unforgettable day of your life — beginning with the amazing cruise down the impressionable Li River, spending the day in charming Yangshuo and ending it with the greatest show choreographed by one of the greatest directors of our time – Zhang Yimou.
The day cruise flags off at 8 in the morning and takes about four hours to reach Yangshuo, twisting and turning through lush fields and a crazy array of mountains with crazy shapes. You can spend your hours in the comforts of the main AC cabin, drinking beer or sipping the exotic snake wine (on your expense) but you will prefer to enjoy the open-air viewing platform as the scenery takes your breath away. There is an interesting buffet lunch served which is cooked on the boat with local favourites and fresh catches from the Li River. This cruise along the Li River is a photographer's dream and you'll want to capture the dramatic landscapes that Chinese artists have been painting for centuries.
Your destination is the village of Yangshuo, where you'll disembark and stroll amid the colourful, bustling marketplace of local street vendors. Popularly known as the West Street, it offers all kinds of interesting stuff at a bargain. But keep off the men who persist on slipping you some fake Rolex watches which our effervescent tour guide Liu warned would stop before you reached the airport.
But later that night was reason enough to brave the drizzle and watch one of the most magnificent spectacles in light and sound unfold over the Li River with the magnificent mountains as a backdrop. Impression Lie Sanjie shows the mastery of Zhang Yimou on his medium and flashes of his cinematic brilliance as 600 performers glide in and out of the frame which is ON the river and propped by many karst mountains which are lit up. Thanks to the Chinese master of film arts Zhang Yimou skillfully combines Guangxi minority customs and the legends of Sanjie Liu with Guilin’s charming landscapes. Impression of Sanjie Liu (produced 2005) quickly swept the world and has become the most successful and influential tourism performance at home and abroad.
Hungover by Impression the day after, it took the fascinating Karst caves of Reed Flute Cave to shake it off. Karst caves are limestone caves formed over millions of years and a walk through the caves transports you to another world. No wonder Guilin is known as one of the most beautiful places under heaven for its dramatic Karst hills, fantastic caves and limpid waters. It inspired a famous Chinese writer to pen – “The river winds like a green silk ribbon, while the hills rise like jade hairpins.
It is time to say goodbye to gorgeous Guilin and head back to Chengdu for a final day of shopping and catching up on some street life. But before you take the flight back be adventurous and take a shot at Chengdu’s famous Hot Pot – a dish where you sit across a pot of boiling soup in the middle of your table and you pick your raw ingredients (meats, veggies etc) to throw into the boil and relish a great dish. Not to be missed even though the locals warn you that the spices will make your eyes water. But what the hell we’re Indians!
As you take the flight out of Chengdu, Guilin and Yangshou will tug at your heart strings for a long, long time. Till you return.
Sheeba smiled at Rajeev. The same sweet smile which she reserved for Mr Gustafson and seldom used with others.