Tags
Chengdu, Chinese snacks, Kuanzhai Xiangzi Alley, PRC China, Sichuan Province, travelling with friends, Wide and Narrow Alley
A slow stroll down a long alley
Whilst visiting Sichuan Province our friend Peter took Jon and I to a famous alleyway called Kuanzhai Xiangzi which consists of a wide alley (Kuan Xiangzi) and a narrow alley (Zhai Xiangzi). There are actually three parallel ancient city alleyways and forty-five courtyards along them and I am sure most Sichuanese were out on the same day as us [it was a Sunday so it is lovely to see everyone out and about]. But boy oh boy; so many people!!
There was plenty to see along the way including lovely entry ways to courtyards and shops and beautiful large wooden doors with brass knockers…
And of course ‘interesting’ figures. But I feel this one made some sense [much more than others I have seen] as the province of Sichuan is known for its spicy chilli dishes and the figure was outside a shop grinding fresh chillies…
One thing that the alley has is plenty of food stores selling all sorts of wonderful hot and cold dishes to eat like beautifully displayed tofu with lots of chilli, sweet fried balls and bread along with cold rice and noodle dishes.
The history of the alley way is dated back to the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911 AD). At that time, the area was a city called Mancheng City or Shaocheng City where its residents were troops. As with most places left unrestored, the city decayed but in 2003 renovations began and the alley way opened in 2008. It has small restaurants/souvenir shops created to look like those from the Qing Dynasty and of course tea rooms selling delicious Chinese tea.
I really enjoyed seeing the local drinks and desserts as they are very different to what we enjoy here in Australia. Pretty drinks with what looked like hot ice coming out of the top of a very large plastic cup.
And all flavours and colours of ice cream (some more interesting than others), ice blocks, small rice cups, cups full of cream and fruit and of course watermelon.
We walked one length of the alley on the right hand side and then turned around and walked up the other way to make sure we saw all the shops…a lovely afternoon out even though most of Chengdu was with us!!
After a relaxing evening, early the next morning Jon and I were picked up by our tour guide and driver and taken to Jinyue Lake Forest National Park. The park covers an area of 200 square kilometres, with over 4.3 square kilometres water surface and 80 square kilometres planted forest. We told our guide we wanted to walk quite a distance within the park so our driver dropped us off at the main entrance. Firstly to see as much as we could and secondly to ensure we reached our 12,000+ steps for the day.
The park also had some cartoon character statues – no idea why they were there but I have come to enjoy seeing these statues in many places around China!! Pepa Pig and family were first to greet us followed by some other characters I didn’t know and then Mr Fox and Ms Rabbit…
Although after about four hours, we were a little tired and rather hungry so we cheated a little and had our driver pick us up from another entry/exit point to/from the park. A great day out to enjoy China’s surprisingly beautiful bright blue sky.
The next day we visited Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo. 
The palace was the official residence created by the Imperial Japanese Army for China’s last emperor of the Qing dynasty, Puyi. It was where Puyi lived as part of his role as Emperor of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. The Chinese refer to the museum as the Puppet Emperor’s Palace & Exhibition Hall and are not particularly complimentary about Puyi with his ‘defection’ to Japan.
HISTORY – [source: Wikepedia] In 1931, the Japanese took control of the Northeast of China, the area of modern-day Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, which were historically known as Manchuria. The Japanese created an officially independent state in Manchuria which they named Manchukuo which was in reality a puppet state of Japan. In an attempt to lend legitimacy to Manchukuo, the Japanese installed Puyi as Emperor of Manchukuo.
Finally, in 1945, the Second World War was brought to an end and the Japanese surrendered to China. At the same time, the Manchukuo ceased to exist and Puyi returned to the status of an ordinary citizen.
But back to the palace – it was designed as a miniature version of the Forbidden City in Beijing and is divided into an inner court and outer court. The outer or front court was used for administrative purposes and the inner or rear court as the royal residence. Both the front and rear court were maintained beautifully and the furniture was stunning. You can imagine an emperor living there…
The palace grounds cover an area of 43,000 square meters. We spent most of our time in the royal residence but also took a short stroll around the grounds.
But visiting all the fabulous places in China is definitely worth the effort and the Stone Forest was worth it. So what is the Stone Forest, well it’s a set of limestone formations located in an area about 500 km2 – we certainly did not walk this distance and after about two and a half hours of walking in the heat and pushing past/being pushed by hundreds of people we were well and truly over it but did get to see some beautiful formations.
When we first arrived, our tour guide walked us over a little bridge to enter the forest…I always love reflections of a bridge on the water!
I also love the reflections of the stones on the water…
And I am not sure if these men were sitting in their boat for us tourists to take photos; they were gone after about twenty minutes…but it was a great photo opportunity anyway.
During our walk, our guide who told us he had visited this site tens and tens of times was able to show us natural stones in the shapes of animals…this one is very easy to identify…
We also saw minority people along the way; some sewing, some singing and dancing as well as playing musical instruments while others were selling their wares which of course we bought.
Another place ticked off my ‘things to do in China’ list.
In September this year my friend Jon and I travelled from Sichuan Province to Yunnan Province by bullet train and intended traveling around the province for about seven days. Jon had never been to Yunnan so I wanted to show him around but decided not to re-visit places I had been to. We didn’t want to stay very long in the capital so I arranged a tour guide and driver to take us to Dongchuan Redland which is about a four hour drive northeast of Kunming and has an altitude of around 1800 – 2600 metres. 
When we reached Dongchuan we stopped many times at Luoxiagou [Falling Cloud Ditch] to take photos of the beautiful landscape. Luoxiagou is surrounded by mountains and is adorned with traditional local villages and colourful fields – absolutely stunning!
We arrived later in the afternoon which is said to be the best time for photography.
It was then time to drive to our hotel which was chosen by our tour guide. This meant I had no idea what was in store apart from our guide was told we wanted four or five star! But in China this could mean ‘China 4 star hard bed’ and not ‘Western 4 star comfy bed’…
We were the only guests at the hotel along with our driver and guide and the staff asked us to select our fresh vegetables and meat [for Jon] from a large selection in the kitchen. Of course eggplant was selected for me and a local meat and vegetable dish for Jon. I enjoyed a lovely pot of Chinese tea whilst Jon tasted the local beer. Then it was time for bed. My room was lovely with a nice ensuite…bed pretty comfy…yay!!
The next morning, we enjoyed a pot of tea in the dining room after which we departed for Dongchuan Redland. The Redland has high temperatures and abundant rainfall which makes the iron in the earth oxidised and together with different crops and unpredictable light it brings about fabulous coloured [and spectacular] scenery. 
Autumn in China (September to November) is a great time to visit and photograph the red fields or red earth. Whilst I could see the red earth, our guide told us that it was a little late in the season to see the bright red colour. He did say that the farmers turn over the fields for new crops including highland barley and wheat which add more colour to the landscape.
We stopped off at a lovely local restaurant for lunch. Great views from here also and there was a walkway really high up across part of the river; there was no way [ever] I was walking on it…Jon did!
Then it was time to drive four hours back to Kunming for an overnight stay before we departed for another road trip to see the Yuanyang Terraces but more on that later!
In 2008 I worked in Hong Kong and had a lovely boss who I have remained friends with albeit long distance. So prior to arriving in HK, I contacted my friend Evelyn who said she would pick up Naomi and I up from our hotel and take us to a monastery I had not been to. So off we went in her beautiful Mercedes Benz…what a car..she took us up to Tai Po District which is about a thirty-minute drive from HK Island.
Our elderly guide met us and we commenced our tour. As soon as you arrive at the monastery, the first thing you see is an outdoor bronze statue (Guanyin) which is seventy-six metres high and said to the second highest in the world. Guanyin is the six armed goddess of mercy and we were told has miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her. 
So because of those miraculous powers, we joined other visitors and walked up to Guanyin to make a water offering in the Thousand Wishes Pond where each of us made a wish.
I do remember a few things though. One is that the monastery is a sanctuary for the purpose of spiritual purification. Secondly it is open to the public who can attend various activities where compassion and wisdom are the main themes. I think this would be a lovely thing to do.
Our dear guide was told we only had a short time but because he wanted to ensure we were told everything about the history, Evelyn had to remind him of our time restraints – but that didn’t matter he kept on talking. Very sweet man but boy could he talk!!
And the reason we had to leave is we were driving back to Kowloon [as this was our last evening in HK], to see the sun set from Ritz Carlton Ozone rooftop bar which is located in the International Commerce Centre, HK’s tallest building. We definitely didn’t want to miss that…but more on that in another post.
On a hot Saturday in Hong Kong, my friend Naomi and I took the free shuttle from our hotel to Central to meet another friend, Raegan who was coming in from Guangzhou on the train. We found a nice little bar to grab a drink and get out of the heat which allowed us all to catch up especially with Raegan as I had not seen her for some time.
We then decided to take a walk along Hollywood Road checking out some of the antiques (overpriced) and also some of the street art along the way.
Hong Kong has such lovely old streets and bars and we walked past one in particular with Chinese umbrellas hanging from the ceiling and waiters wearing traditional Chinese costumes.
I was able to get a good shot of one of the waiters taking his break…
We found a lovely little tapas restaurant for lunch where the food was really good. Lots of vegetarian options and both friends were happy to eat mostly vegetable dishes but I forgot to take photos. After a fabulous afternoon we went back to Central to the shops before Raegan had to take the MTR over to Kowloon for the train back to Guangzhou.
Some shiny and new…
Some very old…
And one particular building reminding me of the Flatiron building in New York.
I will always love the busy streets of Hong Kong; stores open until late with Chinese signs selling everything from household goods to fresh vegetables and meat and dried seafood.
And whilst not a building, there is also the Hong Kong Eye…smaller than some others and although we did not take a ride, I can imagine the views are spectacular.
Another great day in Hong Kong.