My journey to Chengdu initially began in Xi’an, once I’d had something to eat, bought a Pot Noodle and made my way to the train station. What awaited me upstairs was the most crowded waiting room I’d seen so far. It was more of a hall with rows of seats running the length of it and what seemed like endless numbers of Chinese people occupying them. After finding my way to the correct section, what seemed to be the departure time was approaching and nobody was moving. I could gather that the train was late, but to be on the safe side, I asked one of the station staff. They pointed me in the direction of the soft-seating waiting room, which was far more civillised. You almost got your own dedicated concierge service, as I wasn’t there for long before being told that I could board my train and pointed in the direction of the platform. This was actually the first step in the process, as just around the corner, was another gate, where an official-looking station official was waiting to stop people from getting on to the platform. The flood-gates opened from the main waiting room and people started running to where I was waiting and not long after, I was at the front of a very long queue. The station official let one grandmother through and someone who claimed to be looking after her and then everyone pushed forward to board the train. Even though it was late, we only had about 5 minutes to board it before it left.
When I entered my compartment, I found that I was going to be joined by two Chinese men. One was younger than the other, but they seemed to be getting on and I installed myself on the top bed. Not long after, the younger one gave us both a kind of sweet he was eating, which was actually a chewey, mintey, snack-y thing which tasted awful. I could only guess that it was some kind of way of cleaning your teeth, as it had the texture of plant matter. I tried to find out what it was, but ended up disposing of it in the subtlest way possible.
When I woke up the next morning, the younger man had left and a younger girl was in the compartment then instead. We spent a few hours in awkward silence, before I got my China Lonely Planet guide out and pointed to all the places that I was either thinking of visiting or had already been too. This passed the time nicely until we ended up in Chengdu, where we all departed. Once I’d got to the station exit, I found a security guard to ask where the Metro station was. He didn’t know English, so grabbed the nearest two young-looking people to help me out. They kindly walked me to the Metro station and got the same line as I was getting, getting off a few stop before mine. Once I’d reached my stop, I got off and managed to navigate my way to the hostel that I’d chosen to stay at.
This was a guide-book special, as I’d realised on the train that I’d forgotten to book anywhere. This wasn’t a problem, as the hostel was easy to find and practically empty. Something happens on the train between Xi’an and Chengdu. The climate changes from a cold temperate one to a warm tropical one. The change was noticable immediately and walking to the hostel confirmed that. It was lovely!
The first few days were spent going to see the Grand Budda in Leshan, watching the Sichuan opera and climbing Qingcheng Shan. I met Wahida (from Singapore) and Johnathan (from Switzerland) in the hostel and most of these things we did together. It was most enjoyable!
The last half-day in Chengdu was spent eating and getting supplies for the trip to Yangshuo.