Colors of Chengdu

I rechecked all the things in my luggage just in case I had missed anything. My mom was constantly nagging on how lazy I was and how I was never prepared on time. So I hurried with my luggage towards the airport assuming that I would be the last one to reach there.  I rushed towards the waiting room (I reached there in 5 minutes thank god the immigration was way fast) but voila no one was there. After an hour I got to meet all. Passing the cold and heartless mountains of Lhasa, we stepped Anren, Chengdu. 

One of the reasons I have always loved China is because of the way it makes me feel beautiful. It makes me love myself and my eyes more and more. The happiness I get when people call me “Piaoliang” and rush for selfies is beyond words. It gives me a celebrity feel.

As the journey was exhausting and due to the additional flight delay in transit, we went straight to bed the first night . The hotel we were taken to was built in typical Chinese style. Making my mind to check everything around I went with one of my seniors to the park nearby for a morning walk the next day. Just like in a typical village in Nepal all the shop keepers were cleaning their shops, properly assembling there materials to display. Old men were sitting in a corner and chatting while some were playing cards. Each and every shop had completely different thing to offer which made every shop stand out. 

In the park there were people of all age groups who were practicing martial arts. Ancient home, Ancient lifestyle and simplicity of the people in Anren was completely different from the modern china. Anren was beautifully decorated with Chinese lanterns and colorful umbrellas. A stroll there could just erase all your stress.

 As the sun was approximately present only for three hours a day the weather was soothing. This city is famous for food with chilli and pepper, everything besides tea and water has Schezwan pepper in it!  It is believed that Schezwan pepper keeps your body hot and chilli makes you sweat.

We then visited the museums of Chengdu. The way they preserved their history using modern technology was commendable. There weren’t many things that were presented. Our Chawni museum has many more things than those places but the maintenance made the museum unique.

The other day we  moved towards the city area of Chengdu. The red, yellow, orange and white poppy flowers gave the roadways an ombre effect. The third, fourth and fifth day were meant for visits in world heritage sites. 

So firstly we went to Leshan Giant Buddha. The Buddha was the mountain and the mountain was itself a giant Buddha. It is believed that it took 90 years to carve the mountain. The craftsmen have done their work pretty well and that too realizing it was thousands of years back it makes you praise dedication and craftsmanship. The charm of the architectural artistry, coils embedded in the head, small Buddha carvings in the large Buddha was praiseworthy.

Next day we headed towards Mount Emei. Maybe because I belong to a mountainous country Mount Emei did not impress me. But one of the best things there were the monkeys. The monkey would pose for photos if you gave them food.

The last day and the best part for me was our visit to Chengdu giant panda research building center. The 3D movies, documentaries, skeletal replicas, fossils and models, breeding homes, flowers, swan lake, giant panda and red panda made the center lively and fun. Since my childhood I had always loved pandas and seeing it so close to me was surreal. There were large open areas for the giant pandas to roam where I could observe the giant pandas of different ages resting, eating drinking, and playing with each other. It was not only limited on pandas but the center also had swans, peacocks cranes, white storks, butterflies and insects.  It was an absolutely delightful experience. If I have an opportunity I would definitely bring my husband/ boyfriend (future) and my mom to prove that there is still an organism in this world who is way choosy and BHAU KHAANE and lazy than me.

For me the night life of Chengdu was better than the day. I have always been a photophilic: Lover of lights and Chengdu was the place I was searching for. Origami lights, Chinese lanterns, Chinese rooster lights, fairy lights, running lights fountain, you name it everything was there.

The best thing about Chengdu was that love was professed openly. Guys were wooing there girls, couples were walking hand in hand and women with their head bent on their men’s shoulders. It was a lovely sight. But within that it was sad to see how much of pressure Chinese men had to go through. While travelling to Mount Emei I couldn’t see any women carrying a single thing but the men could barely walk. Listening to cases where men would work for a complete day and had to come to home and cook and massage their lady’s feet was not that digesting. Nepalese men seemed pretty lucky compared to Chinese.

 The journey was definitely for a short time span but the memories were beautiful. From getting lost in the city with one of my friends, to hurrying in Chengdu panda research center so that I would miss nothing. From listening to beautiful tracks in the background and seeing people dance to lights everywhere that brought the child within me out. The journey was definitely wonderful.