Now the Sichuan province is famous for it's food, tea, and pandas. Our first experience with the food was a bit of a suprise. We went to an authentic Chinese resturaunt and ordered 'fragrant chicken in garlic sauce.' It seemed a safe enough bet. We got a big bowl of oil/broth with lot's of different spices and some chicken floating in it. It seemed fine so we dug in. The taste was fine. Paul described it as a little 'flowery'. What really surprised us though, was that after a few bites our tongues and lips started to go numb. REALLY numb.
We discovered the next day during a cooking class that there is a special Sichuan pepper that has a numbing effect. Since then we've had it in lot's of dishes, but never as much as that first dish, and never in the same potency.
Our food dilemma was solved though through our wonderful discovery of a Tibetan resturaunt in a Tibet district within the city. We were a little nervous when the language barrier seemed especially thick, but as so often happens, we were helped by a Tibetan man who spoke perfect english to order a delicous meal. This was oe of the best of the whole trip. Yak meat dumplings (mo mo's) might not sound great to you back home, but they were AMAZING!
We were quite struck throught he whole experince how charismatic the Tibetan people are. Very friendly and social and excited to meet you. Even their distinct fasion is endearing. I can see how many travellers become very attached to the place. (And we weren't even in Tibet! Just a Tibetan community.)
The next day we headed out to see the pandas. There is a big panda research and breeding center near the city and they have lot's of viewing areas. Boy are those pandas charismatic! They even seem to have a bit of a knack for showmanship, doing extra cute things just for the fun of it.
So a little panda info; pandas actually have the stomachs of carnivours, but only eat bamboo (which is basically just wood). They can only digest 2% of the bamboo they eat, so they have to eat as much as possible and use as little energy as possible. This has led to the panda being VERY laid back. They recline in a very humanlike manner and just munch on bamboo stalks all day long. If pandas were human, they'd be the guy living in their parents basement watching movies and eating chips all day.
We also started to delve into the tea culture in Chengdu. We wandered into a tea shop and were invited to sit and sample some of the teas. Our hostess, a very kind young lady, went through many of the little ceremonial acts that made us realize that tea drinking has a long history that we know little about. It was tricky to learn more, becuase, for example, when we tried to ask why our hostess would pour a little extra tea on a little frog figurine, she thought hard for a few seconds, and then replied. "He's thirsty."
From there we travelled onward yet agian, to Xian (pronounced She-Ann). Xian is the ancient capital of China so there has been lot's to see. The most notable being the Terra Cotta Warriors. They were quite spectacular. What struck me the most was how lifelike they seemed. It almost seemed like the at any second the figures were going to turn they're heads to see who was looking at them. We were also struck at how bizzare the ancient world is. The labor that must have gone into creating thousands of clay warriors, each unique, with actual weapons, is absolutely mindboggling. And all just to have an army in the afterlife!? It sure doesn't make sense with our modern werstern minds.
Xian also has many other neat sights. There are massive ancient city walls (about 18m high and 15m wide.) surrounding the inner-city. They are quite neat because you can bike around the whole thing from the top. We even tried out a tandem bike, which was quite humorous. There is a great museum. There is also a muslim sector left over from the silk route days, that we enjoy shopping around and snacking in. Sesame and sunflower cakes mmmmmmm! We even saw a spectacular water fountain show in front of an ancient pagoda.
Tommorrow we leave for Beijing via train to meet with our friend Wanda who is coming to join us for the rest of the trip. We are sure excited for her to join us and add some new perspectives!
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