According to Pedometer app, I walked the most steps in my Chinese trips:
1. July 5: 31,497 steps ~ 15.12 km* (in Chengdu)
2. July 6: 29,337 steps ~ 14.08 km (in Chengdu)
3. July 3: 28,849 steps ~ 13.85 km (in Mt. Siguniang)
4. June 24: 23,878 steps ~ 11.46 km (in Dujiangyan and Chengdu)
5. June 26: 23,233 steps ~ 11.15 km (in Songpan and Mounigou)
6. June 30: 20,196 steps ~ 9.7 km (in Langmusi)
7. June 27: 20,136 steps ~ 9.67 km (in Huanglong)
8. May 18: 19,550 steps ~ 9.38 km (in Wulingyuan And Fenghuang Old Town)
9. Nov 5: 17,348 steps ~ 8.33 km (in Shanghai)
10. Jun 23: 16,136 steps ~ 7.75 km (in Saigon, Hanoi, and Chengdu)
* My normal stride length is 48 cm (80% of the number in the app 60cm).
At 8 in the morning, I went downstair to have breakfast at the hostel restaurant. But I opted for a dish of Taiwan rice instead of the buffet. I decided to stay inside for the whole morning because I’d get tired of waiting at the airport later.
I checked out of the hostel at noon, and got to the airport by metro. Because I was 1-hour early, I tool a stroll around the airport and took some pictures. It seemed to change a lot compared to the picture of 10 years ago in my memory.
I guessed Langmusi was the best place of my trip. I even preferred Langmusi to Danba, but there was no special place I’d like to return. Next time, I’d like to see more of China besides Sichuan.
Overall, I have traveled 1,756km on this Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture trip, sitting around 29 hours 22 minutes in a car or a bus. And according to Pedometer, I have walked 262,269 steps during these two weeks, rounding to 125km on feet fortnightly.
Continue ReadingNgawa Tibetan And Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Day 15: Chengdu To Hanoi
Luckily for me, I could sleep well until 7AM because 2 girls checked in long before midnight yesterday. Because it was raining, I waited for a while then decided to go out shopping.
It took me an hour to get to Decathlon. It was my first time at such a big sport store in any country. I wanted to buy many things, but then decided to buy some small gifts and a 10-lit rucksack that can fold up into a small ball. I need extra storage for my stuff.
I also saw IKEA nearby so I dropped by to see why it was famous. Many people came here for a snack or lunch (?!) I also went into a mall and checked out Zara, H&M, Uniqlo stores, etc. But I didn’t buy anything.
In the afternoon, I visited the Wenshu Temple. I used to visit one of the street here 10 years ago but I wasn’t so sure. This area even seemed to be bigger than the Wuhou Temple area where I stayed.
After getting back to the hostel, I took a late afternoon stroll to the so-called Tibetan Quarter which was near. But there was nothing impressive.
I met 2 of my companions at the Jinli Street. I decided on trying the giant grilled squid after drooling a few times. And it was indeed very tasty.
Another one of the girls in the dorm room thought I was Hongkonger because of my English, except from the girl I met on the first night here.
Just figured out I was a lil bit too naive about the metro system. I didn’t need to buy separate tickets for connecting trains. It wasted time (queuing at ticket booths), and maybe money (the longer distance I went, the cheaper it was).
The Pedometer app said that I walked 30,471 (later 29,337) steps today.
Continue ReadingNgawa Tibetan And Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Day 14: Chengdu Shopping Spree And Wenshu Temple
Though there was a girl checking in the room yesterday afternoon after me, I was still waken up at midnight by 2 others. They also switched the aircon to a temperature that made me hard to sleep again.
I tried the buffet breakfast. It cost me 15 yuans and was worth it. The Dien Bien girl then joined me for the panda tour opposite the hostel. Then I found out the code the hostel staff sent me was different from what other people in the bus had. Thank goodness, I got accepted no matter what.
The Chengdu Panda Base was very crowded today, unlike 10 years ago. It was very sunny, unlike 10 years ago when it had been raining nonstop. I had a better view this time, because I was in no rush. I could come back any time with any bus. But the heat stopped me from staying here past noon.
As Jinli Ancient Street didn’t seem as hot or crowded, I made a stroll around here. I was more attracted to the local street food than handicrafts and teahouses. I think I should pick something for dinner later here.
Taking a shower and change clothes, I went out alone to find the famous Yulin Street in the song Chengdu by Zhao Lei. Turned out I could walk there without taking metro. The street didn’t have anything prominent as I thought, but I found the old Little Bar and some good wall paintings.
When I was back to Jinli Street, I decide to eat pineapple sticky rice (the black one).
Too much walking today made me want to sleep early; however, the freelancer guy told me there would be a live music session happening downstairs at 8:30PM. So I decided to stay and another Chinese girl started talking to me and added me in WeChat. Thanks to the hostel’s music night, I enjoyed some of my fav Chinese songs like Chengdu, Baby До свидания, Hua.
According to Pedometer, I walked 31,497 steps today. I didn’t know that I walked more than I did at all the hikes in Sichuan this year.
Continue ReadingNgawa Tibetan And Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Day 13: Chengdu Panda Base, Jinli Ancient Street, And Yulin Street
Before I went on this trip, I thought Mt. Siguniang must be a place for climbers. I only liked hiking for a day of about 30,000 steps which was tiring enough. Stargazing on the snowy top of the mountain at night under the cold wind was no fun to me. I didn’t really wanna go to Mt. Siguniang though it was in my initial plan. Because the Dien Bien girl didn’t intend go climbing alone, and I didn’t know how to see pandas in Wolong, I decided to give Mt. Siguniang a try in the end. Turned out this world heritage had several valleys and was worth seeing.
The highest place of my journey: somewhere near 3,700m beside a waterfall.
I met a forest keeper on the hike (first I thought he was a traveler), and after chatting for a while, he told me my Chinese was good. I also felt at ease with my ability to converse for more than just 1 or 2 sentences asking for direction.
The most picturesque view must have been some pine trees with no leaf under water.
After the boardwalk, there was a muddy trek because of the continuous rain from yesterday. I decided to wait for others at the roadside stop, enjoyed my 10-yuan hot milk tea to keep me warm, and looked at other hikers chatting and eating barbecued food. I also helped a couple bargaining for their horse ride because their kids seemed to be worn out. Turned out their horses just went down halfway instead.
On the way out, I entered the monastery near the gate which I couldn’t get in in the morning because it was closed then.
I thought I’d go to 2 valleys today, but Changpinggou (Changping Valley) turned out to be so long a hike.
When I was back to the hostel in the afternoon, I was also trying to ask for the bus to Chengdu with the owner, and she said there were 3 buses tomorrow. I’d like to take the noon one.
Later, I bought more milk teas in a grocery store. 1 cup cost only 4 yuans.
My Pedometer app first indexed 30,535 steps for today, but then later I saw only 28,849 steps. Huh?
Continue ReadingNgawa Tibetan And Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Day 11: Changping Valley
