This morning we bid farewell to a gloomy Xian and took the train to our next destination: the capital of Sichuan, the city of pandas, the Mecca of spicy food: Chengdu!
The train journey was pretty much the same as the one to Xian (it is, in fact, the same line): about one hour’s ride to the massive Xianbei station, then the security check, then the first passport check, then buying a sandwich for lunch, then the second passport check at the gate, and finally boarding the train. The 3 h ride felt short, especially with the break for lunch. The landscape, whenever we weren’t darting in and out of endless tunnels, was rural and full of undulating forested mountains.
Upon disembarking in Chengdu, we followed the indications to the “e-hailing” pickup point, which took us through some sort of mall (although it’s apparently a health center? Just one with cafes and fast food restaurants) and up two floors to end up just throwing us out onto the street. We took a long Didi ride to our hotel to unpack, then an even longer Didi ride to the city center (we caught the 5PM rush hour).
Now, finally, we are properly in Chengdu! The car dropped us off in the middle of Chunxi Road, the main commercial thoroughfare in Chengdu, right in front of the famous IFS panda: a giant sculpture of a panda trying to climb the walls of the IFS mall. If you go into the mall and up to the last floor, you can meet the baby panda face to face, but I was happy to look up from the street!
It was Friday evening, and seemingly the entire town of Chengdu was out and about shopping, taking a stroll, having coffee, or eating, as crowds upon crowds converged on each other in every available spot. There’s another famous spot right down the street: a wraparound screen displaying 3D-like videos. Not bad for a gimmick but it’s ultimately just advertising!
We ventured into Taikoo Li, which is a very similar space to Beijing’s open air mall of the same name: a very modern area where luxury brands coexist with high street shops, except instead of the Omotesando style of each building having its own design, here they are all housed in uniform buildings that blend traditional and contemporary Chinese architecture.
Somewhat incongruously, this shopping complex has been built all around the ancient Dacien temple, which also shares its name with the temple we visited just yesterday in Xian. I guess the translator monk Xuanzang went around franchising his temples!
By 18:00 the temple had already closed, but the space itself was still accessible, so we took a quick walk around to get a feel for the place. It is deceivingly large, and even though all the halls were shuttered, it was a pleasant respite from the brazen commercialism of the surroundings.
The streets parallel to the mall are nicer, the shops there seem independent or at least Chinese, not the same old brands we already have at home. Pretty quickly, however, we had visited as much of the area as we cared to, so we took off for an early dinner at one of the many (so many!!) delicious-looking restaurants I had saved in my map.
My top priorities in Taikoo Li were Ma Wang Zi (recommended by a friend) and Mixun (highlighted in my guidebook), which coincidentally happen to be one right across the other in the same corner of the mall. After hesitating for a bit, I decided to simply go to the closest one, which ended up being Mixun.
Located in a beautifully restored traditional courtyard house, all polished woods and antique furniture, this restaurant would be worth a visit for the interior design alone before you even find out that its modern take on Sichuan vegetarian cuisine earned it one Michelin star.
We had mapo tofu, which had a delicious, rich, smoky flavor and was only medium spicy, kung pao mushrooms that were to die for, and spinach noodles that are very instagrammable but depended mostly on the soy and sesame sauces they were served with. I also ordered tea; they have a separate menu just with the tea offerings, like the wine menu at any other restaurant, and they serve it in a teapot with another, smaller teapot and finally a glass, so you have somewhere to keep the tea you’re not drinking without it steeping too much. I asked for a recommendation and was served a Sichuan green tea from Emei. The first cup tasted really intense; the second one was just right, less strong while still being flavorful.
The meal was delicious, the experience delightful, and the price came to 450 RMB (€58) for three people, which is a steal for a Michelin star!
That was the perfect cap for a first foray into Chengdu. On the way out we took a peek at the square inside Taikoo Li where a ton of people had congregated in front of the Apple Store. The fountain with a light show, the skyscrapers with their own flickering lights around, and the throngs of people made the whole scene feel very Blade Runner.
More tomorrow!
This Is A Lake 