Indeed the Chinese believes that the fertile plain where Chengdu is located is known as Country of Heaven or The Land of Abundance.
It was a very long flight from Copenhagen to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, with a few transits of international and domestic flights. That was back in 2011. I suppose there are more convenient flight schedules now.
The not-so-fun part was I was there to work and not for leisure.
Beating the jetlag was a battle for the entire week I was there. Just as my body was adjusting to the 6 hours time difference, it was time to fly back -.-
Chengdu is a developing place. Unlike Shanghai or Beijing, people rarely speaks English and the locals feel intimidated if you speak English with them. I learnt from my one-week driver (who ferried me to and from work everyday) that they do have their very own local dialects. Some words sounded a bit like Mandarin or Cantonese but the rest were incomprehensible.
Fortunately, I can speak Mandarin, though it isn't amazingly fabulous. It makes things a lot simpler. Well, maybe not speaking the language can also be equally fortunate.
How so?
My Polish colleague arrived from Manila (he was on a business trip there a week earlier before joining me in Chengdu), much later than scheduled due to nasty weather that disrupted the in-going and out-going flights.
He checked in to the hotel and the reception told him everything was fine and sent him up to his room. However, at the same time, I got a call from the reception apologizing for requesting me to meet them at the lobby for assistance. When I was about to take the lift to the lobby, I met my Polish colleague. I asked him if everything was all right. He nodded and said yes, they told him everything was good.
The truth is.....
My colleague's Amex card could not be used as a deposit for checking in because the hotel did not accept anything other than a VISA card. So, I called my colleague and told him the situation. I asked him if he had another card that we could try or we probably had to pay in cash.
You see, not knowing the language is a bliss. My colleague was simply told that everything was fine even though it obviously was not. I wondered if he came alone, could he possibly got a free stay.
Or being whirled out from the hotel.
Before my trip to Chengdu, I also learned from my other colleagues, based on their experience to Shanghai, to always get a local to write the name and address of the places you needed to go in a piece of paper and showed it to the taxi driver. A printout of map or address from the Internet would also be equally helpful.
Another handy tip I picked up from my first ever business trip years ago was, keep a name card or whatever that had the hotel address and phone number printed on it would save you from panic attacks of not knowing how to get back to the hotel, should the taxi driver had not idea where your hotel was.
What is interesting in Chengdu?
Pandas! Yes, Chengdu is a home to many pandas.
Do visit the panda zoo, if you popped by.
I didn't have the luxury of time to do so. A colleague gave me a picture of a panda as souvenir from Chengdu. How cute.
The city came alive at night, when you see the roads were lit up by lights from cars, streetlights and buildings. The traffic could be notorious too, though not to the extent you see in Jakarta or India.
Coming to the food. Chengdu is a heaven for those who love spicy food because every single dish is cooked with chili or Sichuan pepper. The latter can be more lethal than the chili. It numbs your tongue and makes you feel weak, helpless, tearful with the potent flavour it unleashed.
A must try is the Sichuan hot pot! I love it. My Polish colleague, however did not react well to it. He enjoyed it but his stomach was protesting the following day. Poor guy.
The soup based came in two different flavours. Spicy (cooked in dried red chillies with Sichuan pepper) and non-spicy(cooked in red dates, wolfberries and spring onions) ones.
Some cured meat,which I couldn't really recall what it was made of. Meaning, it can be skipped. Unless, you could not contain your curiosity.
Fresh slices of fish.
The soup was boiling away and we were happily chomping away.
This dim sum (or some sort of finger food) was delicious. It was made of pumpkin and then deep fried with a thin layer of batter.
It was a great dinner. We enjoyed the dinner and the companies we had. If it wasn't for them, we would not be able to have such a scrumptious meal!
On our very last dinner, we decided to keep it easy, in case my Polish colleague's stomach protest again. It was just the three of us - my Polish colleague, an Indian colleague and myself. The locals suggested us to a typical Sichuan restaurant.
I just realised someone took a very, very bad photo. The restaurant name was partly obscured - not that I am a good photographer either! But glad that it wasn't me this time! LOL.
Chrysanthemum tea with wolfberries
Stir fried glass noodle with shrimps. It was a little spicy.
Stir fried chinese cabbage
Sichuan fried chicken with bird-eye chilies and Sichuan peppers. A rather popular dish in Sichuan cuisine. Warning : Beware if you are not up for a mind blowing spicy dish. Avoid taking a spoonful and start chewing away. Only pick the chicken meat among the chilies and the tiny but potent Sichuan peppers. Yes, I know. That is one of a tough challenge.
The meal ended with a refreshing platter of fruits.
Some said food is made more delicious with the right companions. I could attest to that. It was a very pleasant dinner, with some jokes and laughter occasionally seasoning the already tasty dishes. It was also the night which we exchanged farewells to our Indian colleague who we were very fond of, for we did not know when we would meet again although deep down inside, we know we will....
Some day.
Some where.
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