I have just returned from what I hope will be the worst spring break I will ever have to endure. It was not all terrible, and both the good and bad aspects I am grateful for, but overall, I wish I had been lounging on a beach in Thailand instead (as some of my fellow classmates did).
The trip was 'paid for' (aka we pay for it in our tuition) so it did not really make sense for me not to go on it. I also thought it sounded fun; Sichuan is one of the few regions outside of the big coastal cities I had heard of in China--a place described as having one of China's most laid back cities (Chengdu), most beautiful scenery (mountains filled with Pandas, among other wildlife) and most mouthwatering cuisines. I was disappointed by all three of these in Sichuan.
We started our journey with a 25 hour train ride from Beijing to Chengdu. It was surprisingly pleasant. Everyone played cards, read, and snacked while the train meandered through China's diverse scenery: flat plains, wildflower filled mountains, and tropical hills.
The good times continued the first night in Chengdu. We all went out for a meal of Sichuan's famous hot pot: basically raw meat and veggies you throw into a pot on your table filled with spices and let it cook for a minute before eating it. It was my third time having hot pot, but this one was by far the spiciest thing I have ever put in my mouth, ever. Sichuan is known for a second degree of spicy unfamiliar to the western world. It is a spiciness that numbs your whole mouth and gives your body this tingling sensation. It feels like a drug, and like most drugs, it has consequences (I'll get to that later). After dinner me and my two friends met some local Chengdoers and joined their table to have a few drinks. An hour later we were in a taxi with them to a Platform 9 3/4 (no joke) themed club where we had bottle service and danced all night.
The trip was off to a great start. Then, in the middle of the night my stomach felt unnaturally full and in pain. Next thing I know I am throwing up my hot pot dinner (which was burning my throat as it came out) all night and morning. I spent the entire next day in bed and missed all the activities. I later found out that about 80% of my group also got food poisoning, some worse than me.
Needless to say that put a damper on the trip. I could not eat, or even smell Chinese food for the rest of the trip and constantly wanted to sleep. Plus, the weather was awful--hazy, polluted, rainy and cold. We did go to two very cool sites later on in the trip, however: Leshan's Giant Buddha, the tallest Buddha in the world, and the Dazu Grottoes, a collection of Buddhist cave carvings miraculously spared from the cultural revolution. Check facebook to see photos later.
I am most grateful for this trip because it allowed me to see a different side to China. Our bus rides to the various sites passed through the most impoverished places I have ever seen. Trash ran rampant, shacks were falling apart while gleaming skyscrapers were constructed in the city of Chongqing, and pollution was so thick you could not see across the street. The most disheartening experience was one night in a stopover city, whose name I can't remember. The 'city' was straight out of a third world country. Yet the hotel we stayed at, right in the middle of the poverty, was nearly a five star. It was huge, having the capacity of thousands, and immaculate. Apparently this phenomenon is common in China: the government builds this grand hotels to distract visitors from seeing and experiencing the misery of what is around them.
Anyways, this is a little longer than I had anticipated. I am glad to be back in Beijing. The weather is 82 degrees and sunny.
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