I'd arranged to be picked up at the airport in Chengdu a week prior to our arrival. We were landing after midnight, and were therefore concerned about finding transportation at such a late hour. I confirmed this with our hostel via e-mail, including our arrival time, date, and flight number, but, come 12:40AM on Wednesday November 11th at Chengdu International Airport, there was nobody waiting to pick us up.
(I had expressed concern earlier that perhaps they would mistake 12AM with 12PM, which I assured Hyangmi was a common mistake, but she dismissed such a thing as being impossibly stupid) We tried to call the hostel, the payphones only accepted Chinese calling cards. We borrowed somebody's cell, nobody answered. We called the complaint line, nobody answered there either.
This went on for good two hours until we finally managed to reach our hostel, which was closed.
Things only went downhill from here.
Suffice to say, it was a disastrous day, and one I don't intend to relive either through writing about it now, or ever.
The following day was a considerable improvement. We started by visiting a mountain in the forest, where rustic gazebos sprang from the side of trees like mushrooms, and a bearded blind man climbed steep stone steps playing an enchanting tune on a bamboo flute. From there, we visited an ancient dam, crossed a couple of rope bridges, and finished things off with an Indian dinner.
Our third day in Chengdu was a mixed bag. Things started well with a visit to the Panda Breeding Center, where we saw Giant Panda adults (looking very hungover, sleeping), sub-adults (eating), and babies (being adorable) as well as Red Pandas (fighting). Every panda has a doctor, a nutritionist, and a keeper. Their meals are prepared in a private kitchen. Indeed, these pandas enjoy better living conditions than the vast majority of the Chinese population.
Next was a trip south to the Big Buddha, a 70m statue carved into a cliff I had been looking forward to seeing for some time. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and crowds, we were only able to see his head and glimpse his big toe before making a mad dash back to a waiting cab. Afterward, we checked into the Teddy Bear Hotel, which thankfully, wasn't teddy bear-themed, but did dish out simple-yet-tasty Chinese. It would also be our base camp for Emeishan, the mountain we would climb the following day.
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