The Sinophile Princess @thesinophileprincess - Tumblr Blog

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Entrance to the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base.

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(41) Chengdu, city of Pandas

My day began at 7am as I woke up and grabbed some street food before heading for the subway. I can't say "began bright and early" because Chengdu seemed to have a stubborness for overcast and dreary weather, meaning the sun hides behind a sheet of cloud cover every morning. I am normally against visiting zoo's and animals held in captivity. I see it as inhumane, cruel, and one of the worst examples of capitalism - exploitation for money. So while initially I was quite adverse to visiting the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base, after learning the aims of the base centre more on conservation and preservation than exploitation, I decided to visit. There are no "giant panda shows", no "pay to feed the animals" - the park exists to increase awareness of the difficulties of giant panda and red panda breeding, and increase population in captivity. And, of course, increased education on the topic. Into the subway and straight to 熊猫大道站，or Panda Avenue station. From there, walk straight out of Exit A either onto the yellow Scenic Stop bus, as I did, or grab a 10-15RMB (depending on traffic) taxi to 熊猫基地, the short name for the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base. The yellow Scenic Stop bus boasted a "free" ride to the Base, and sure enough I didn't pay, but I think I may have strolled away from the group upon disembarking - so don't take my word on the 免费票 (free ticket). About 5 minutes walk from the bus stop is the entrance to the Panda Base. Buying tickets is easy, just step up to the booth and plead your case. General fare is 58RMB, and for students (make sure you have your student card) and the elderly it's 29RMB. Through the turnstiles minutes later and you're in! You've got a couple of options to get around the Base. If you pop into either of the Tourist Centres, you can hire an English or Chinese speaking guide; you can wait in line for one of the scenic buses, which has 4-6 stops throughout the base; or you can just walk. I chose to walk, and I decided to take the journey anti-clockwise in hopes of missing the larger crowds. It worked, as did arriving quite early (8:45am) - at some points I had the base to myself. The easiest way to explore is honestly to enter each exhibit and listen for the shrieks and gasps of Chinese. It worked, every time. Not sure if there will be any pandas awake and playing? Just perk up your ears. The section you're strolling through is empty? Keep moving until you see a large clump of people, selfie sticks outreached and cameras recording. For me part of the sightseeing was people-watching - how Chinese would Ooh and Ah at a panda shifting in in its sleep; how they would all yell 哪儿！还有一个！(there's another one!); or the general chanting of "熊猫!" (panda) as if the panda was going to start a cheorgraphed dance routine upon being yelled at. I personally found it hilarious. I was happy just standing against the barrier and watching the pandas totter around, sleep, roll over and eat. They're such purely cute animals, it's impossible not to smile while watching them. A warning, though - Chinese tourists are more than happy to push you out of your spot or wave their selfie stick in front of your face if you're in their way of a photo opportunity. I can't stress enough that getting there as early as possible is a saving grace against this. The park itself is beautiful and well-kept, has multiple toilets and rest spots - but I'd eat beforehand, or bring snacks with you. The "restaurants" onsite are cold and uninviting, and charge triple the price for items you can buy in your local 超市. It took me around an hour and forty-five minutes to walk the whole park, but you could easily stroll at a more relaxed pace and take a couple of hours. Additionally, the later in the day you go, the longer it will take to move through the crowds, and see the pandas. Also, choose a cooler, less humid day to visit, as the hotter it is, the less pandas there are outside. If you were roly-poly, covered in hair and needed to eat 50% of the time you were awake, you'd hate the heat too!

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My final day in Chongqing was breathtakingly clear - these photos are completed unedited! Taken on my Oppo R9S, this is Jiefangbei area as well as around the Chongqing Railway Station.

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The People's Auditorium by night, in Dalitang area, Chongqing

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(40) Chongqing Railway Station

Most larger cities in China have multiple Railway Stations. For the smaller of these, one is for new trains, and one is for old trains. For larger cities, all carry all types of trains. Generally, they are labelled as to their location - north, south, east and west. In Shanghai, they are named for this and for the district they reside in. Cities with the former type of railway system typically know them as 火车 (train) and 高铁 (highspeed-train: a mixture of 高速, highspeed and 地铁, subway train) station, which respectively refer to the older, sleeper trains and the newer, high speed trains.

Chongqing is not only an old city, it is an important city and one that constantly progresses. This means that aside from an old and a new railway line, it also has two separate high speed networks, and a monorail, as well as the regular subway lines. And as the city is split into parts by not one, but two rivers, it means that entire communities can evolve yet be unaware of change in other parts of their city.

And so when I got the bus to 两路口 station and hailed a cab for the railway station, Baidu Maps telling me it was under a 3 minute drive, I didn’t think twice when asking 请带我去火车站 (Please take me to the train station). When my driver replied, 去高铁站 (to the high speed rail station) ? I said "no, the train station". He sort of nodded and kept going.

6 minutes later we came to a bridge, and crossed it. Unease set in, and the next several minutes went like this: I asked the driver, we’re going to the train station, right? Yeah, he said. The 高铁 station. No, I said, I need to go to Chongqing station, NOT Chongqing north. Not the north station?, he said. I asked, there’s a station in the south, isn’t there? Yes, but no one uses it. But I AM USING IT, I said, I don’t want to go to the north station. He pulled over in utter confusion, and I showed him on my ticket I was catching a K-train; in other words, not a high speed train. He said to me, I haven’t been there since I was a child. But you really want to go there? !YES, yes. Please. 请带我去...(place) - please take me to...

Confusion rendered to certainty, the lovely driver turned off the meter for the rest of the trip, and complimented me on my Chinese. He even told me I spoke better Putonghua than he did, but I corrected him - different doesn’t mean better. He disagreed but told me i was 有道, a very complimentary way of calling me wise.

We made it to the Chongqing Railway Station, and I understood his earlier apprehension at once. The station is beyond old, and doubles as a passenger bus station. It’s not a very likely place for foreigners. Typically, as I got out of the cab, I was bombarded with people selling me train tickets, bus tickets, - someone actually pulled my luggage out of the boot, confident I’d be going with them. My lovely shifu came to my rescue and sent them on their way.

And for everything I say about this station, it has a two-level Maccas, so what else is there to complain about?

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Views of the city District behind one of Chongqing's many bridges

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The beautiful sunset and night time views on the Yangtze River cruise

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Boarding the boat for my one hour Yangtze River cruise. The sky was still light when I boarded at 7:20pm, but we were the lucky lot who got to experience sunset while onboard! A word to the wise: buy your tickets around 6pm, and waste about an hour in the area and board the boat as quickly as possible. I boarded 45 minutes in advance and still missed out on a roof-top seat! Additionally, if you feel you'll get peckish, pack your own food and drink as its ridiculously over-priced on board - think 30RMB for a plate of grapes.

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The Chaotianmen port during the day. The port sits at the northern tip of Chongqing CBD, and looks out over the confluence of both the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers. It was extremely foggy during my first day - typical humidity in central Chinese summer!

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The beautiful view of Hongyadong by night. The first two photos are from my cruise along the Yangtze, and the next from my cab home!

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洪崖洞 is a preserved area of old Chongqing - it was where migrating officials lived in luxury as the Chinese government pushed migration in order to balance the distribution of national resources, after there was a rapid fall in Chongqing's population. Now, while the exterior has been preserved, the interior offers restaurants, cafes, a Starbucks and a Subway, and a very, very weird "Pirate Ship" display.