Up until recently Chengdu was the gateway to Tibet. Whilst now one can fly in from Kathmandu or come in via rail from the north, my previous 2 visits to this city was as a stepping stone to visit Tibet. My first visit in 1992 had me on an alien travel permit in a city with only 3 hotels open to foreigners. Us foreigners had to use a different currency to locals and of course there was a different price for us for the same service brazenly advertised everywhere. Approaching locals then was met with a firm “meiyou” which translates to no and was the government directive to Chinese who stumbled upon one of us evil foreigners.
Fast forward 30 years and wow, how things have changed. Cars have replaced bicycles on the roads, massive new high rise buildings everywhere. Designer label shops and marquee cars on the newly built freeways.
We arrive in our central hotel and set out for a couple of hours’ exploration after lunch on Sunday. Our first stop is Tianfu square with a classic very 1960s Mao statute. From there off to the Renmin (People’s) gardens which was a hive of activity on a Sunday afternoon. The pretty green gardens and artificial lake was abuzz with locals. Shopping at the craft market, sipping tea, paddling boats and enjoying open air concerts. What fun to immerse ourselves in this unexpected slice of local life.
A subsequent afternoon sees us out to one of the many Buddhist temples. This city is in Sichuan province away from the western seaboard in the foothills of the Himalayas . For centuries a part of the Tibetan empire and hence the preponderance of Buddhist temples. Wenshu is the most popular. Built in 618 AD and reconstructed in 1706 it is Tibetan in style and it reprises my memories of my Tibetan Buddhist practises of the past.
Finally no visit to Chengdu would be complete for a foodie without paying homage to the unique signature dish that originated here. Mapo Tofu dates back to the Qing dynasty. The name translates to “pockmarked grandmother” a description of the elderly lady who first made this dish. The restaurant that made it started in 1874 and it is still here a bustling busy eatery where the signature dish is one of many Sichuan classics. Our trip to the restaurant sees us in a minor car accident, our taxi driver evicting us from the cab while he filed a report about the accident and us having to walk th final 25 minutes to the restaurant in a tropical deluge. Nonetheless the trip was worth it. Once again we are the only westerners here enjoying a culinary and historic classic.
