This is not the communist China that we learned about in school 50 years ago, where everybody is poor and the government owns everything... although that may be the impression many people still have.
And again, this is only the first day, and only in one city... Chengdu.
The entrance to the breakfast room at our hotel.
Monday was a bit of relaxing day for us, although we did get out for a walk for a few hours to a park and temple complex a few kms away, and then we took the metro back because it ended up quite warm.
Most people live in these huge apartment complexes.
Looking back up the other way.
I had to download two important Chinese apps to my phone... Alipay, and Wechat. Both of these are mainly payment apps, although they do other things as well. You use these apps to pay for pretty much everything. China is a totally cashless society now, and although some cash is still accepted for some things, everybody prefers to use their phones and the apps... both customers and merchants.
More apartment buildings.
Made it to the park.
As I said yesterday, many signs include some English.
Man made waterfall in the park.
Quite a few girls were all done up getting photos taken.
You could even walk behind the waterfall.
Lotus flowers.
While we sat and took a break, this big bug landed on Ruth's foot and made her jump!
Pedestrian bridge.
Old pagoda building.
More lotus flowers.
Yes, they even have an "emergency toilet" in the park!
No idea how that differs from a normal toilet! However, there are a lot of public toilets around and they are free, relatively clean, and even have a mix of Asian and western toilets. Quite a change from Kyrgyzstan.
An old pavilion.
The inside is nicely decorated.
Don't forget to look up!
Bet you can't guess what this is?
They are all over the place... rechargeable power banks for rent. You use your Alipay app on your phone to scan a QR code and release a power bank to recharge your phone. When you're done, you slide it back into a slot at any other location... and there are hundreds of locations. You rarely have to go 100 meters without seeing one.
We visited a temple complex.
And we were surprised to find that anybody over 60 gets in totally free by showing any type of ID... residents and foreigners alike! Just had to show our drivers license and we were waived in. And apparently this is the case with many attractions here.
This is a Taoist temple.
Beautiful structure.
Another temple... there are probably a dozen in the complex.
Lots of incense burning going on.
This temple was decorated with various monkey statues.
Tea pot fountain.
There are a lot of odd statues.
As I said earlier, it started to get quite warm so we decided to take the metro back to the hotel. The metro system in Chengdu consists of 18 lines. Everything spotlessly clean, and inexpensive... the maximum charge is about $2.50 CAD ($1.75 USD), but many shorter trips go through at under a dollar.
Heading back to the hotel.
And there is ZERO graffiti anywhere. Personally, I'm not a fan of graffiti, I think it's a sign that society has given up on itself... well the Chinese definitely haven't given up on themselves.
And lots of independent business. The old communist China government owned everything, but that changed many years ago. China is still governed by Chinese Communist Party. But economically, daily life looks very different than it did.
You can walk through Chengdu and see premium cars, luxury retail, high-end apartments, sophisticated digital payment systems, and a lot of consumer activity. Including small business that is independently owned and operated. For example, our dinner last night...
There was a young guy operating his street food stand. Once again, we took photos off his stand and showed him what we wanted.
Here he is, working the wok to make our food!
Rice dish.
And noodle dish. Total cost for the two dishes, $5 CAD ($3.50 USD).
We sat and ate our food while watching this group of people dance.
More and more people joined in, and by the time we left it was really busy, with people of all ages.
We're really impressed so far. No indication of homeless people, beggars, or graffiti. Clean free public washrooms. Efficient metro system. Almost all vehicles electric. No trash anywhere. They are definitely doing something right. This is going to be an interesting three weeks.
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I travelled in China in 1988 when it was just opening up to capitalism. I arrived in Hing Kong and travelled extensively, finally finding my way to Tibet. I’d love to go back to see what 30 odd years of progress has brought to the country. I loved my Chinese experience, I am sure you will too!
ReplyDeleteThat would have been a very interesting time to have visited China back then and we are glad to hear that you enjoyed your experience even then. I am sure that you will find lots of changes over these 30+ years if you were to make a return visit.
DeleteIf these last couple of days have been any indication, we are really going to enjoy our time here and probably wish that we had more time!
Wow, I gotta say, it looks great! Love your photos and all the interesting things you've already seen. And the food...yum! Great prices as well. I've only known one other person who visited China, and that was Shanghai years ago. She hated it, said it was very dirty and polluted. Glad you're having a very different experience!
ReplyDeleteAs Kevin said we are really impressed! Having said that it has only been a few days and only one city so I am sure we will have more to comment on when our visit to China is over in three weeks.
DeleteWe have been trying different eating places to find what we like to eat and of course it is a bit of a challenge for me to find food that is gluten free. Our best experience so far was at that one food stand by the university. Lots of great choices and super cheap prices.
We won't be headed to Shanghai so we can't comment on how much it will have changed over the years but we will certainly let you know how the other places we visit compare to Chengdu.
Looks/ sounds like utopia
ReplyDeleteI won't say that it is utopia but it is certainly way better than what we were expecting. I know I had thoughts of Bangkok in my mind and Chengdu is nothing like Bangkok at all, it is so much cleaner and quieter!
DeleteWow, I love cultural infused trips like this. I bet if you travel to other parts of the city it will be no different than any other city. The best part and worst part of the city will show itself. I love the technology though including payment system. It's slowly coming to that in USA. I've only had one business ask that I send a check to them lol. I had to hunt to find where I stashed my check book. I would love the phone charging stations like they have...make them universal instead different attachments to charge a phone.
ReplyDeleteThis trip is certainly going to be full of culture! The other parts of the city are similar to other cities but also still very different. I think where we are staying is probably part of the oldest part of the city, so it is certainly more historic than some of the other areas of the city. We never saw the worst part of the city, if there is one!
DeleteThe technology here is well ahead of many parts of the world and we are really liking it. It is so easy to pay for things, the metro system is easy to use, public bathrooms seem to be everywhere and charging your phone as you go it also very easy. We can't remember the last time we ever wrote a check, in fact we don't even have a checkbook!
How do you figure out where to eat there? Hunting down reasonably priced food is the part of travel I hate the most. Also, any navigation issues finding your way around and using public transportation? China is on my radar for this year.
ReplyDeleteWe just walk around until we see a restaurant or food stand that is busy and looks like they have something that we would like to eat. I need to be careful because of my gluten allergy so it isn't quite so easy for me but if I see a dish with rice or rice noodles that is pretty much a win for me. Everywhere that we have eaten so far has been super cheap but we are also not eating in fancy style restaurants.
DeleteWe haven't really been having an issue with navigation, we generally us the Organic Maps app which you can download and use offline. The metro in Chengdu is pretty easy as long as you understand how subway systems work and in Chendgu you can use your Visa card to tap in and out of the metro system. The long distance trains we a little bit of a learning experience. The long train rides we booked ahead of time but the one from Dujiangyan City back to Chengdu, you need your passport to buy the ticket and then again to check onto the train and once again to check off the train. When you get your ticket you are also assigned a car number with a row and seat number. We were lucky to have a young boy help us out with that but now we know.
We are really loving China so far, definitely a different experience, I hope you make it here, just make sure you do your research ahead of time. You need certain apps to be able to pay for things and make your way around as well as getting an e-sim that will work in China so that you can use social media and many other websites which would otherwise be blocked.
I've traveled independently extensively. For some reason, China intimidates me! I know some have had issues with WeChat and AliPay.. sounds like it's going smoothly for you. I'm not really interested in big cities..prefer nature and great scenery. So if I go I'll visit some cities for short periods just as a base and do day trips from there. The country is so huge, I feel I'd need a minimum of a month to see what I want to see. There are some national parks that look stunning.
ReplyDeleteDon't let it intimidate you, it really isn't all that hard to travel around just make sure you do the research ahead of time and get WeChat and AliPay set up before you arrive. No, we have not had an issue with either although Kevin prefers using AliPay.
DeleteWe aren't big city people either but we said to each other yesterday that we could easily have spent a month in Chengdu alone. There is a lot to do and see within the city itself and lots of day trips that get you out into nature. We plan on spending time in both the countryside and the cities. You are right the country is huge and after being here for four days we can see ourselves returning again and again, there is just too much to see and do here. We are planning time Zhangjiajie National Forest Park as well as some day trips.