Lè Shān

January 10th it was finally time to visit Lè Shān. Lonely Planet says:

"With fingernails bigger than the average human, the worlds tallest Buddha draws tourists to this  relaxed riverside town"

 We were going alone by bus so we got co-workers to write down a variety of useful phrases for us to wave at ticket vendors, taxis, and so on:

Chengdu Transportation Center:         新南门旅游客运中心

Le Shan (Big Buddha):             乐山（大佛）

I want to buy two bus tickets to LeShan (Big Buddha)
买两张到乐山（大佛）条件最好的空调车票

I want to buy two bus tickets to Chengdu
买两张到成都（新南门客运中心）条件最好的空调车票

Could you please take us to this bus? (show the guy your ticket)
请带我们到这辆车.
   
Please take us to the LeShan Big Buddha.
请带我们到乐山大佛景区

Take us to place to buy tickets for boats viewing Big Buddha?
请带我们到乐山大佛游船的售票点？

Take us to tour boat？(show the guy your ticket) 请带我们到游船？

Price (by type) one-way: 34.50/36.50
Bus Times: 8：10—19：35

One bus every 30 minutes. Two hours Chengdu to Le Shan

We printed all this in nice big text and felt ready to roll.

The morning of the trip we headed out to the transportation center, waved the "I want to buy tickets to Le Shan" (which also says we want the best tickets possible) at the lady and purchased tickets. We expected to pay ¥36 each for a bus ride to the Le Shan bus station, which is annoyingly far from the attractions, and then take a taxi to the Buddha. The price was instead ¥51 and our bus wasn't exactly a bus:

The van was actually much more comfortable than a bus so we figured it was OK. Shortly after we set out the driver pulled over, got out of the vehicle, and started smoking. We inquired with the other passengers about what was happening and gradually gathered he was waiting for someone else with a package he'd be delivering to Le Shan. Odd.  Shortly thereafter a small package showed up by scooter and we took off.

The van was much faster than a bus (based on passing numerous buses) so we felt we were generally better off than expected. Until the van driver started smoking. Rod tapped him on the shoulder and urgently mimed window opening, which gradually got through.

An hour or so later the van pulled over on the side of the highway. This turned out to be the package dropoff point; after a minute or two another van showed up, the package was passed, and we were off again. We entered Le Shan and learned that one advantage of the van was that it takes you right to the giant buddha area instead of dropping you at the distant bus station and forcing you to take a taxi.

 

From the drop point it is necessary to walk a short distance to the ticket office. We walked with a couple from Baotao in Inner Mongolia who spoke some English.We wound up wandering around Le Shan with them all day and ultimately taking the same bus back.

 

Along the way to the ticket office we saw trees that were confused about the need to place roots into the ground. Apparently this tree is quite well known. Unfortunately we forgot the name.

We also saw a motorcycle whose occupant was ... not with it ... in a curious position.

 

 

After purchasing tickets for the buddha (which also includes entrance to Wuyou Temple (or Wūyóu Sì)) and the Mahaoya Tombs) we start up the stairs. The buddha is 71m tall so it takes a decent number of stairs to wind their way to head-height.

 

 The size of the buddha becomes apparent when you look down at the ant-like people crowded around his feet.

To get down to the feet you descend a narrow staircase on the side of the cliff. This is populated by jackasses from tour groups who keep shoving you until you inform them the next shove will earn them a free flight to the bottom (probably not understood but the guy definitely followed that we were pissed). People who join tour groups are 74% more likely to be jackasses than a random person off the street. Along the side of the stairs are very nice little alcoves with sculptures.

 

From the bottom you can begin to appreciate just how big the buddha is.

 

 When you proceed up the other side of the grand buddha you come out into a very nice, very green, set of grounds.

 

There are a number of other minor attractions in this area. They have stone stellae, a statue of a stern looking chap who was probably somehow associated with building the area and apparently lived for some time in a nearby cave, and various other items.

There was a small area dedicated to a fellow who (if we understood correctly) wrote history along with his two sons. There were some very nice line art pictures of him. The best one was also the first picture we've seen of clogs in China.

 

 

We also saw a cool tree and enjoyed some remarkably steep stairs up to a very peaceful little buddhist prayer area (and, naturally, shop).

 

 

This area had some neat statues in little niches, and some very nice roof adornment. Perhaps when we build our duplex we can do something in this style :)

 

 

The view out over the grounds, with traditional buildings peeking out through the foliage, was quite nice too.

Next we walked out the south exit, through the "fishing village", and spotted the entrance (thought we didn't know it at the time) to Woyou Temple.

 

Just to the left of where you enter Woyou Temple are the Mahaoya Tombs. These are small artificial caves with some vases, small statues and the like in them.

From the bridge to Woyou Temple you can get a nice view back on the fishing village.

Woyou Temple is YABT (Yet Another Buddhist Temple). To get to it one must ascend a good number of stairs.

At the top a lady tried to sell us a rough wooden cup for ¥50. We laughed and said we'd seen similar items for less in Chengdu and the price was revised to ¥10. This was so cheap we couldn't resist.

Woyou Temple has a novel hobbit door, a nifty painting, a dragonfish, and a grass dragon to distinguish itself from other Chinese buddhist temples.

 

 

 

At this point it was late afternoon, getting darker, and everyone seemed ready to leave. Luckily the couple from Baotao had the phone number for the van service so we got picked up at the base of Woyou Temple, ferried to a gas station, and shortly thereafter picked up by a big bus. This cost ¥45 each but again saved us a taxi to the real bus station so it probably wasn't much more expensive.

The bus ride back was much slower than the van there, and bumpier, and noisier. As a result we may not have been in the best mood when we got out. On exiting the bus in the Chengdu station we were mobbed by taxi drivers and other people who wanted money for god knows what. The taxi drivers in the station naturally wanted to negotiate fixed rates rather than run the meter. At one point it was necessary to walk single file through a hall wide enough for three because both sides were lined with these pests. The refusal to run the meter coupled with continued attempts to grab arms to delay you while the sales pitch was made evidently irritated Rod who explained to several of them in rather irate terms that they were a bunch of cheats.

We walked out, flagged a legitimate taxi, and went to Peters Tex Mex for dinner. As expected the meter rate was 40% less than the fixed rate bargains available at the bus station. Sadly this is our last weekend in Chengdu; next week on Friday we start a six week vacation by flying to Kunming.

 

 

Taxi This!

Chengdu taxis are a bit frustrating at the best of times. Far more than Beijing or Xi'an the drivers seem to need help to find address on major streets. Today was a highlight even so.

I walked down to get a cab and was very happy to see an open one just up the street heading towards me. Perhaps no need to cross the intersection of doom (homicidal hordes of bikes, trikes, cars, and buses) today! My cabbie saw me, flashed the lights, and pulled over. I got in and we proceeded across the intersection ... and were promptly flagged down by a police officer!! The cabbie and the officer debated for a few moments and then he took some stuff from my driver and wandered off across the intersection. WTF!

My cabbie hopped out and chased him. WTF!

The car was left unlocked and full of the taxi drivers possessions. It was unclear if I was intended to wait but I felt it likely the car would be robbed if I got out and flagged another driver so I decided to wait up to 15 minutes. WTF!

The driver followed the cop across the intersection once more, putting them on the opposite corner from me. They appeared to be talking still so perhaps there was hope. After some ten minutes the driver got her papers plus one more (fine?) from the cop and came back to the car. The paper from the cop, which looked very much like a ticket, was waved at me while chattering about something in Mandarin. I said I didn't understand in Mandarin and it seemed like the driver understood momentarily and then decided it didn't really matter and resumed babbling.

I figured the mornings excitement was over but for bonus points she decided to drop me off at a different (to her credit the name was at least similar) street than I asked for. And when I say I asked I mean I showed it written in Chinese characters so this wasn't just mispronunciation on my part. Waving the address around and protesting finally managed to get it through that this wasn't good enough so we drove off slowly and the driver finally resorted to asking someone on the street where the address was. Every other driver either calls home base (most often) or uses a GPS (rare) when they cannot find something (shockingly common).

-- Rod

Panda Panda Panda!

At 7am on Sunday January 3rd we set out for the Chengdu Research Base Of Giant Panda Breeding. Lonely Planet suggested that we should arrive early because the Panda's basically eat then sleep then eat again a great deal later. Obtaining a taxi at 7am is so wonderfully easy as to almost make it seem worthwhile to get up really early for work.

At the time of our arrival it could be described as not bright but early.

It turned out that we actually arrived at about 7:45 for an 8:00 opening. At about 7:50 they sold us tickets and let us in to wander the unlit foggy bamboo pathways. These were quite neat looking. Unfortunately they proved near-immune to tripod-less photography so we cannot share the experience. A short distance inside the entrance was an artists rendition of what it would look like if Panda's carried their young in a manner similar to a Kangaroo.

We were very excited to see the Panda's. Pavan had been looking forward to it since we first started reading about Chengdu. We raced to the first enclosure only to discover that Panda's are not really early risers in winter.

We strolled around for another half-hour or so, learning the lay of the land and observing the keepers setting up bamboo piles. Finally we heard banging from the young panda enclosure and on going to visit it discovered Panda's shambling out vaguely in the direction of the bamboo. Unfortunately we suspect they were awoken by people banging on their cages to get them out for tourist consumption. Sure enough the over-sized teddy-bear like creates meandered towards the bamboo, flopped over onto their backs, and commenced dining. You could easily picture them enjoying the use of a Roman style lectus.

One particularly energetic fellow climbed directly up a tree to get the to food-bench rather than walk around an extra three meters. His climbing was veeery slooow.

 Once the diners reached the table feasting ensued. Given the choice of bamboo as their fabulously inefficient fuel the meal was quite drawn out.

 

 In addition to giant pandas the facility also houses a number of Red Panda's. These are much faster and far more agile.

 

 

After the Red Panda enclosures we meandered back to the adult area. A HUGE female Panda was chowing down on what appeared to be about double the bamboo allocation for all four youngsters.

 

Opposite a fairly hefty male was assaulting a stand of bamboo. As an interesting aside, the research base is unable to grow enough bamboo to feed their panda's and has to purchase additional stock from mountain villages.

We headed towards the final enclosures and witnessed this fellow grabbing bamboo and moving it around with remarkable dexterity.

 

At the end of the final enclosure the keepers offer the ability to take a picture standing with a panda. According to their sales lady you get one picture sitting sort of beside the panda and one standing behind it. Only one person can enter and you get two pictures (one per position), taken by the keeper. For this you pay  the ludicrous fee of ¥1000!!. We've seen pricing that is a bit high for stupid tourist stuff before but this was just ridiculous. Our experience in the past has been that research oriented locations (which the Panda Base claims to be) are usually sanely priced so this was a bit shocking. And a bit offensive; apparently we are just walking money bags to the keepers. Some people were paying so probably the price will stay unreasonable.

On the way out we caught the parks short film about Panda, which was quite good. It was rather surprising to see footage of baby pandas being born in captivity in what appeared to be a steel cage with concrete floors; we thought perhaps the national treasure might warrant better care. Newborn Panda are amazingly tiny, often 100g (1/1000 the mother, roughly).

As the Panda breakfast period seemed over and most of the Panda seemed to be returning to sleeping we headed out. Along the way to try to get a western breakfast we spotted a cool car.

Grandma's Kitchen serves a $5 breakfast where you get to pick five items from a fixed menu. It's pretty darn good. Unfortunately Pavan somehow managed to customize ALL our pancakes to have no syrup instead of just hers and immense confusion ensued trying to explain that we actually did want syrup. After Grandmas we walked over to Sabrina's Country Store. The prices are 50 to 100% more than the same item would be at any other store in Chengdu but they have some items we haven't been able to find elsewhere and even at those markups it isn't much worse than home. Dr. Pepper! Western cereals!!

Wang Jiang Lou

On January first we went to Wang Jiang Lou (aka River Viewing Park). The main attraction is that the park apparently has 100+ varieties of bamboo. A co-worker, Echo, volunteered to come with us so we met up with her at the gate to a local university near the park. Another co-worker, Anderson, also appeared. Anderson's first job out of the university we were walking through is Active.  Parts of the university look pretty park-like in their own right.

A short stroll through the university took us to the park. Almost immediately on entry the park fulfilled our expectations by taking us into a series of paths lined with different types of bamboo.

After a very nice stroll through the bamboo we stopped for tea by the river. River viewing park is beside a singularly unimpressive river. The tea was very good, though our hosts (Echo left, Anderson right) refused to let us pay.

While we were sitting sipping our tea and chatting an older gentlemen strolled up and seemed to want to chat. Our experience so far is that it's quite rare for older Chinese to be so forward. We invited him to sit and he started telling us about how he'd learned English by himself and his son lived in Dallas. We talked about North America with him a little, learned that while in Dallas he was in area full of expats, and that traditional Chinese food is apparently available in Dallas. He was even somewhat familiar with the Dallas Cowboys!

After tea-time we went back into the bamboo to see a few more types. Along the way we spotted a whack-a-mole machine and Rod insisted Pavan have a go!

She won a sort of stick with a propeller at one end which you spin between your palms and release so it helicopters around. Sadly the helicopter stick got stuck in bamboo on its maiden voyage, then once shaken down fell into a drain on its next flight.

The bamboo acts as a brilliant sound dampener so even though the park is in the middle of the city it is quite quiet.

At some points the bamboo was quite large and very solid. Solid enough to climb.

After this we strolled through the university in search of lunch. Posted on a large sign by a university bus stop was a list of English idioms and their Chinese equivalents.

Some of the idioms were new to us:

• Break a butterfly on  the wheel
• Fish in the air
• Love me, love my dog

At lunch we surprised our hosts by ordering very traditional Sichuan dishes. This was purely unintentional but they were very good. Many things had the Sichuan Pepper (tongue numbing pepper) in them.

After lunch we went to an alley that was apparently very cool for tourists. It certainly seemed popular with Chinese visitors!

The alley had many over-priced merchants but also a few entertaining bits. A man removing another mans earwax with a vicious looking metal probe was a bit surprising to us. One slip and ruptured eardrums.

There were quite a number of ear-cleaners along the alley; it appears to be quite popular. After roaming about the alley for a bit we stopped for a coffee, bade farewell to our hosts, and then decided to wander a little more. While we were trying to decide where to go we heard the sound of heavy metal! Curious, we strolled up the street to find a Chinese death metal concert in full swing. They were appropriately loud and screamed things hoarsely on a regular basis so as far as we could tell without understanding the words they fulfilled all the requirements to be a legitimate death metal band. Elder Chinese passing by generally looked a bit pained at the noise.

While looking for a street with taxis on it we encountered an add for a miraculous teeter-totter.

And a store down to it's last bird.

After taking a taxi back homeward we wandered out for dinner and managed to order our leftovers "to go" in Mandarin. Another great milestone.