Juizhaigau

Final destination in the 10 day Sichuan Easter adventure. Once again back on the high speed train, back to Chengdu before interchanging for another train to Huanglongjiuhai. A recently built station which allows visitors to access Jiuzhaigou Valley and the Huanglong Area. This time of the year (April) happens to be low season. So it was busy, but not busy busy. Apparently during peak season, they allow up to 40,000 visitors into the Jiuzhaogou Valley per day. Our days were capped at 20,000, but it still felt like a lot. The things about China parks is that there's no opportunity to explore, it's one path, one direction, look at this mountain, take a photo of this lake. With so many people it's easy to understand why they have adopted this philosophy for tourists.

We stayed at the amazing Ritz Carlton Reserve in Rissai Valley. Snow capped mountains in the background, clear star spangled skies at night, beautiful alpine scenery, turquoise lakes and blues of every shade all while surrounded by thousands of Chinese people.

Chongqing

Up until 6 months ago Chongqing had not existed on my radar of places to visit. That was until I recently found out that it was famous for Hot Pot. Well, famous for other things, including being a major Sichuan hub, and the previous wartime capital of China. but Hot Pot is what stood out in the description.

From Chengdu we caught the high speed train to Chongqing covering approximately 300 kms in just under 2 hours. My brief interaction with the Mainland train system left me quite impressed, everything was clean, on time and efficient. Interestingly the trains will allow patrons to purchase tickets for seats, or just tickets to be on the train. So through the train, there's punters sitting in unoccupied seats, moving around to the next available upon actually owner returning. At the few stops, passengers would stream out and smoke cigarettes before rushing back onto the train. They love the cigarettes out here. The train stations too were also impressive, carrying all sorts of snacks, shops and restaurants.

So what is there to see in Chongqing. Well, this city is HUGE! I don't use that description lightly. Of all the cities that I've visited, I would say Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai are probably the biggest I've visited. But something about Chongqing was seriously mind blowing. This city is really huge. Boasting one of the largest populations in the world and the largest metropolitan cities by land mass it really is an impressively looking city. The downside, is that it's so busy and that it was quite heavily polluted during our stay. 

Ok so back to the main attractions. Hongya Cave, the cityscape with lights:

Train that goes through a building:

Cablecar:

Eat spicy things:

Three Gorges National Park:

Eat more spicy things:

World's largest hot pot restaurant (seats 5,800 people):

Chengdu

First time back in the mainland since Covid. Have heard a lot has changed. I'm trying to think if there's anything worse that being Chinese and not being able to speak the language. Nope. Spent a total of three days here. Managed to do a tour and see the Pandas at the Conservation Park, tour the older parts of the city and really get stuck into the food.

Onto the food. The food in Sichuan is really outstanding. The spice, the saltly, the sour, the balance. Spent a total of three days here. Lots of Mapo Tofu, shredded potato, dan dan mein, duck, baos and tea.