Chengdu: Day 2 (11/12/19)

My sleep schedule was still a little messed up so I didn’t pull myself out of bed until almost noon. I was feeling antsy after spending all of yesterday sitting, so I was looking for a full day of adventure and decided to check out downtown. I didn’t know where or what anything was on the city maps so I just caught a train to the very center of the city - Tianfu Square. Though first, I had to figure out how to buy a subway ticket on one of the teller machines. I couldn’t read any of the text on screen, so I had to literally match the characters 天府广场 on my map with the ones on the subway stops. But hey it worked! Different from anywhere else too was that in order to enter the subway, you have to put your bag and any drinks on a scanner like at the airport. That caught me off guard the first time and I ended up clogging the line. The guards had to pull me aside and show me how one conveyer belt was for bags, another for drinks, etc. They were really nice about it though - I suspect they deal with fumbling tourists like me all the time.

Having navigated all that I finally arrived at Tianfu Square and was greeted by a large green and gold dragon fountain that spiraled with the stairs back up above ground. On the other end of the square was a large statue of Chairman Mao banked by red and gold flowers. I didn’t spend much time in the square proper since it was pretty empty - not too surprising for an overcast Tuesday afternoon. A large glass and scaffolding building just off the square caught my eye and i didn’t have any actual plans so I made my way over to check it out. Lo and behold it was the Chengdu Museum! And being an absolute museum rat, I simply couldn’t resist snagging a ticket.

Now, I probably should have looked at the exhibit map and decided which ones I would view vs. those I would skip … but I didn’t do that. Instead, I just started walking through every exhibit I could see: ancient pottery and palatial traditions, archeological history of Chengdu, statue galleries, extensive porcelain collections, an entire half-floor devoted to the art and history of shadow-puppetry, development of Sichuan cuisine and tea houses which was interwoven with the history of Chengdu opera, and many more exhibits that I didn’t have the energy to visit. I was in the museum for several hours and left in the late afternoon after doing a clean sweep of the 3rd floor.

With a couple hours left until dark I spotted the People’s Park a few blocks away and took a stroll on over. On the way, I noticed many of the mopeds driving around had like a cloth cover on the front which I then realized was a heated blanket with mittens for riding around during winter. I’d never seen one before, but if many folks rely on a moped rather than a car year-round it makes a lot of sense! Following my revelation I arrived at the flowered entrance to the park. There were quite a few people around, but not enough to be crowded, and I enjoyed wandering through the green space, admiring the decorative arches that separated paths. I eventually stumbled upon the park’s central pond and island pagoda, which were absolutely gorgeous and brimming with flowers.

From there I followed the adjacent hilly paths, that overlooked the pond. It was at this point when I encountered a very friendly older man. Like aggressively friendly and would not leave me alone. He kinda just stuck near me and chattered occasionally, though I have no clue what he was saying due to the language barrier. I wasn’t really bother by it until he walked up, grabbed my hand, and then started pulling me towards the park exit making a drinking motion with his hand. I had zero interest in hanging out with this dude so I snatched back my hand, shook my head, and waved goodbye. Of course, he kept following me from a little bit behind, so the next time I turned out of sight I jogged to the other side of the park to avoid him. That seemed to work, and I got a little more time to explore the park before I felt anxious he was going to spot me again and decided to leave.

I was starting to get peckish and one of the locations circled the city map from my hostel was Kuan and Zhai Alley, a few blocks away, which had a little bowl meaning I could find food there. I made my way over and noticed the scenery starting to change from modern city to old stonework, sculptures, and smaller “traditional-looking” buildings. It started getting crowded too, while Tianfu Square and the Chengdu Museum were pretty open, the alley became shoulder-to-shoulder very quickly. I was so enthralled by the architecture, shops, street food, and the lights starting to come on, that I didn’t really notice he crowd. I took my time wandering around the alleys, ducking into every building, and gushing over all the interconnected buildings and the personality they all oozed. Often times there would be a high profile store selling jewelry or art, and then a tiny tea shop tucked into a connecting tunnel that lead into something totally different, like a candy or book store. One of the most unique spots I found was a two-story tall dragon hanging two chairs that people could sit in. If you did, the dragon would breath mist over them for a photo op.

I got a little too caught up exploring and it wasn’t until after the sun went down that I remembered why i was in part of the city in the first place: STREET FOOD!!! I had walked both the alleys several times at this point so I knew where to go and clumsily bought several spicy chicken skewers (absolutely incredible by the way!) which I devoured while continuing to discover neat spots. Like a shop exclusively selling $1,000 woodwork, or a 4-story restaurant where each floor had a different theme, or a panda shop selling everything from stuffed animals to panda candy. Partway through I stopped by another food stall and bought a bowl of spicy tofu and something resembling a dango skewer: sweet, soft, and chewy. I could have eaten like 15 of the dang things if I wasn’t on a budget!

My feet started getting sore shortly after finishing my snack so I figured it was a good time to head back, seeing as I had strayed quite a ways from the nearest subway entrance. The walk and ride back were uneventful, which was fine by me since my head was racing with everything I had experienced from the day. When I finally returned to my home block around 11pm I located an open restaurant, which was completely empty at this time of night, and sat down for a proper meal. The waitress didn’t have an english menu but pointed to one item and said “mapo tofu” to which I was like “Oh! I know mapo tofu! Yes!” with many thumbs up and head nods. It was amazing of course, seems like everything I eat here is just incredible and makes me wonder why I haven’t been eating it my entire life! I actually couldn’t quite finish the whole dish so I mimed putting my leftovers into a box and motioned walking outside, which eventually got my request across and the waitress sent me off with my leftovers. i absolutely crashed when I got back to my room and slept like a dead rock. 10/10 day!