Into the Mix at Chengdu
November 2nd, 2007 The train ride into chengdu was long, 18 hours, though not nearly as misserable as the ride from zhengzou to xian. I had the forsight this time to get myself on a hard sleeper. Originaly i was supposed to have the bottom bunk but a lady with an adorable 11 month old child with a lot of miming and gesturing got me to trade the bottom bunk for the top bunk. ah what can i say the kid was cute.
Once off the train i was jumped my several people trying to pull travelers into their hotels and hostels. i got information on the dragon hostel and the mix hostel, told the gentlemen i would think about it and walk off to find something to eat. the dragon hostel guy just wouldn’t leave it alone and popped up out of nowhere once i was around the corner trying to get me to go with him then and saying that he had free transport and all that. it took me a few minutes to fend him off but eventually i got the free and nabbed some food at dicos. full of crappy tai fast food and annoyed with the dragon hostel guy i set out for the mix.
The mix wasn’t that far from the train station by the map they gave me so i decided to walk. everything on that map is a lot farther than it looks. along the was i passed some gangsters which i thought was funny. they came strolling along about 20 strong in their little suits with the leader walking in the front, his jacket just draped over his shoulders, his peon lighting his cigarette for him, and a gold pin on his collar. he was a gangster, or at least thought of himself as one.
The hostel was great. There was a central courtyard with cobble floors and posters and flyers platering the rock walls. there are three tables with a ton of chairs for dining or just hanging out. the front desk is just off the central area along with a small room for computers, a tv room, and a small dining room. looking up the glass roof of the third floor is visible. The whole place is done up in a hippie backpacker motif with incence floating in the air that smelled like this bag i had from guatamala, quite nice really.
My room was on the third floor. i was placed in a 4 bed dorm and i had the top bunk opposite the door. I had been placed in a room with all girls, my lucky day. The girl in the bunk below me was named Ceres, she was staying at the mix for a while and would become a good friend of mine during my stay at the mix.
I had planned to only spend two days in chengdu but by a combination of lazyness and an upset stomach from the spicy sichuan food i didn’t leave for emei shan till saturday. In the meantime i filled most of my time by walking around town to all the various temples and places of interest on the map. really none of it was all that interesting. at one point i stumbled upon this opra of sorts in a warehouse in the slums. the place was packed with old people, old people were playing the intruments and old people were singing the songs. well it was really a guy and a girl going back and forth singing, the dude was singing so high that i was trying not to crack up. when i walked into the place and plunked my butt down in a chair right in the middle of the oldies there was a lot of muttering and nasty looks which with the bloke on stage obviously losing his balls i could take but ten minutes before i had to break out of there and have myself a hearty laugh.
Well saturday i got off my duff and got on the bus to emei shan and hiked around there for a few days, but thats a story for another time. I got back tuesday afternoon and boy was i sore. The worst was trying to walk down stairs, my legs just wouldn’t obey and i had to crash down the stairs instead of walk. I originaly only planned to stay for two more days but when those two days were up my legs were still sore and i had been to lazy to get a ticket out of town. so i stayed for another two days, to find that the bus didn’t leave for lijiang till saturday so i had to stay another day or so. I filled my time with internet cafes and sleeping in. At night I would always eat shaocao or sichuan bbq, which was awesome, and watch movies. I know i was just being lazy.
The thursday night after i got back from emei shan i started hooking up with this hot chinese girl who was staying in the hostel and who i’d talked to a few times before. we were making out on the couch in the tv room at 4 in the morning and i was trying to coax her upstairs when a couple of drunk people stumbled in and she got so embarassed she wouldn’t even look at me anymore. damn i was hoping to get at least one chinese girl in bed with me.
The next night one of the guys who stumbled in on me the previous night invited me to go to the bar with him and his friends. bored of internet cafes i agreed and we hopped a taxi to the hemp house. I had been hoping more for a disco or something where you can dance and have fun but the hemp house was more chill until some white guy from the states who was a god aweful rapper got up and started rapping. worse some chinese guys got up there with him and they carried on for the rest of the night. The evening wasn’t a total waste though. A decently attractive girl from atlanta named kelly came up and started hitting on me but when i got her outside she didn’t want to leave her friends. damn teases.
The rest of my time in chengdu passed without incedent. just food internet food movies and sleep. until my bus for lijiang left the following wednesday bringing a close to a little over two weeks of chilling in chengdu.