CHINA: Sichuan Local Culture & Cuisine

In the markets and streets as well as the village roads throughout Sichuan, you can see teahouses with unique Sichuan styles. Sitting in bamboo chairs, people gather around wooden tables, hold special tea wares exclusively owned by the teahouse and take a sip of fragrant tea.

What the visitors see and experience by is what the culture of Sichuan has to offer. The culture of Sichuan originated from today’s Sichuan province.

It exerts an influence on areas such as Tianshui to the north, Hanzhong as well as eastern Yunnan and western Guizhou to the south, and it survives and prevails in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Like any other culture in China, it is an important part of Chinese culture with a long history and striking local features. The Sanxing Pile historic site was unearthed in Guanghan, Sichuan in 1986 proving that Sichuan culture has been prosperous as early as 4000 years ago.

2000 years ago, Sichuan, the kingdom of silks, opened the southwest Silk Road, which started from Chengdu and ended in Mid Asia and Europe by passing Burma and India.

It was through this road that famous Sichuan silks, brocades, porcelains and tea leaves were exported to other countries and such items as jewelries, jades, pearls, seashells and glasses were introduced to Sichuan.

This road opened a door of cross-cultural communications between Sichuan and other regions. Characterized by various patterns and exquisite embroidery, the Sichuan brocades back then were looked on as the symbol of Chinese culture.

The prosperity of the Sichuan culture causes its gathering of outstanding scholars and talented people. Guo Moruo, the late renowned Sichuan writer, said in his famous masterpiece The Anecdotes of Sichuan, “Since educationalist Wen Weng vigorously subsidized the cultural and educational undertakings in Sichuan, such historical figures as Yangxiong and Sima Xiangru stood out one after another. Thus, most of the poets, like Libai in the Tang Dynasty and Sushi in the Northern Song Dynasty, are from Sichuan.”

Apart from educationalist Wen Weng, classical Chinese poet Yangxiong, Sima Xiangru, poet Libai and writer Sushi mentioned above, such as great poets Dufu, Luyou and Huang Tingjian have lived in Sichuan. Dufu wrote nearly 1/3 of his poems in Sichuan.

In the past, the prosperity of literacy creation served as a driving force behind the rapid development of the printing industry in Sichuan. In the Tang Dynasty over 1,200 years ago, Chengdu is the most prosperous and the important printing center that was as famous as Chang’an in today’s Xi’an and its nearby areas.

It was in the Song Dynasty that the block printing industry in Sichuan witnessed its unprecedented growth. It was recorded that the block printing of Sichuan in the Song Dynasty tops that elsewhere.

The culture of Sichuan has a long and glorious history. As early as in the trace of human activity, the Wushan people and Ziyang people once lived in Sichuan.

A saying goes like this, “The people from western and eastern Sichuan shared the same ancestors.” As Chinese civilization developed, the culture of Sichuan glowed with dazzling light in successive dynasties.

Up until now, Sichuan remains a renewed and important part of Chinese culture.

Sichuan Cuisine

Kung Pao chicken
Sichuan is well known for its spicy cuisine and use of Sichuan peppers due to its more humid climate. The Sichuanese are proud of their cuisine, known as one of the Four Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine.

The cuisine here is of one dish, one shape, hundreds of dishes, hundreds of tastes, as the saying goes, to describe its acclaimed diversity.

The most prominent traits of Sichuanese cuisine are described by four words: spicy, hot, fresh and fragrant.

Sichuan cuisine is popular in the whole nation of China, so are Sichuan chefs. Two well-known Sichuan chefs are Chen Kenmin and his son Chen Kenichi, who was Iron Chef Chinese on the Japanese television series "Iron Chef".

Another famous Sichuan cuisine is hotpot. Hot pot is a Chinese soup containing a variety of East Asian foodstuffs and ingredients, prepared with a simmering pot of soup stock at the dining table.

While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leaf vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, tofu, and seafood. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce.

Sichuan cuisine is one of the eight most famous cuisines in China and it’s various. A saying describes the Sichuan dishes like this, “The dishes are rich in taste and diversity”.

In people’s mind, Sichuan food is generally famous for its spicy taste. Saute, home-cooked, fried and boiled food is characterized by their unique flavors.

They are definitely scrumptious! Double-cooked pork slices, fried chicken, duck smoked with tea leaves and steamed fish in soy bean sauce allure the guests with their unique fragrances. The delicious Sichuan dishes have already become popular all around the country.

Famous dishes are Mapo tofu, cold dish with eight flavors, duck smoked with tea leaves, sliced meat with crispy rice, pork shreds with fish seasoning, kung pao chicken, hot and sour beef tendon, saute meat dumplings with pork slices.

Double-cooked pork slices, diced beef with water flour, stir-fried duck tongues with bamboo shoots, poached sliced beef in hot chili oil, braised Dongpo pork hock with brown sauce, steamed beef with rice flour, boiled fish with pickled cabbage and chili, etc.

Yangxixian and Zijin Residential Area are the places where you can taste delicious Sichuan dishes since there are many excellent restaurants scattering around there.

Recommended restaurants are Hongxin Restaurant, Da Ronghe, Honghe Weidao the place where director Zhang Yimou once made the propaganda film for Chengdu and Mother Zhou and Xiyanghong.

When it comes to Sichuan dishes, there is nothing more famous than hotpot.

Characterized by its variety, spicy taste and convenience, hotpot has quickly won over the hearts of the people all over the country. Sichuan hotpots are various; there are dozens of soups of the hotpots; the raw materials for making hotpots defy enumeration.

In a word, anything eatable can be boiled or cooked in the hotpots. In recent years, searing hotpot has derived from the traditional hotpots.

Popular traditional hotpot restaurants are Huangcheng Laoma, Shu Jiuxiang, Sanguo Yanyi, Chuanjiang Haozi, Wuding, etc. And the famous special hotpot restaurants are Tianmei Niqiu, San Zhier, Tubaguo and Yiba Gu, etc.

The most popular place for enjoying hotpots is Funan New Developed Area—the special hotpot street. There are dozens of big and small hotpot restaurants scattering there: San Zhier, Kong Liang, Liu Yishou, Gourmet Huang Hopot, Zeng Shiji Loach Hotpot, Zhaolao Goose Sausage Hotpot, Baba Yan Duck Sausage Hotpot, Abalone Hotpot, Kaiyuan Delicious Hotpot, etc.

There is also chicken and bamboo shoots hotpot, sliced pork and radish soup hotpot, shrimps hotpot, dainties of every kind hotpot, frog hotpot, etc.

Tourism Observer

CHINA: Handcycling Team Tours China

A handcycling team called Krankin'thru China is currently in the midst of its tour around China which started in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, and will end in Beijing later this month.

Over the last three months, the team has cycled more than 5,500 kilometers through 10 provinces in China including Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui.

We hope to reach every corner of China in the future, and to introduce the sport of handcycling to more people with disabilities, inspiring them to lead a positive and healthy lifestyle,Joshua Dominick, a team member from the United States, said after the team arrived in Shanghai over the weekend from Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

This is not the first time Krankin'thru China has attempted such a tour.

The first was from Shangri-la to Hongkong in 2015 while the other was from from Dali to Jinghong, both of which are in Yunnan province, in 2016. The distance of this year's tour is the longest they have attempted.

Some of the team members have suffered injuries during the arduous journey.

Pan Yifei, a handcyclist from Beijing, said he once got seriously injured after skidding on a slippery mountain road because his brakes had failed.

But despite the challenges, the team is determined to complete this year's tour.

Although the journeys are full of challenges, we will continue to cycle with disabled individuals and organizations and help people push their own limits, said another team member named Wang Feng.



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CHINA: Yunnan Red Earth Largely Unknown Among Tourists

Yunnan arguably the most diverse province in China, is a photographer’s paradise for both its mix of ethnic minorities and splendid landscapes.

Apart from the capital Kunming, historic Dali and world-famous Shangri-la, the southwestern region boasts many smaller, yet equally beautiful, places — such as Dongchuan, a less-known area 150 kilometers from Kunming.

At the north of the Yungui (Yunnan-Guizhou) Plateau, Dongchuan is largely unknown among tourists.

While travelers are amazed by the magnificent Meili Snow Mountain in Diqing and the Yulong Snow Mountain near Lijiang, they probably don’t realize that Dongchuan has a similarly gorgeous mountain, the 4,223-meter Jiaozi (sedan chair) Snow Mountain.

Dongchuan boasts high mountains and deep ravines, resulting in unique landforms and landscapes. Among them, red earth is a special feature.

The rural area of Hongtudi Town, in the Wumeng Mountain area, is hugely popular among amateur and professional photographers for its unique red earth scenery, for which the town wins its name.

In the mid-1990s, professional Chinese photographers started discovering the Wumeng scenery, but instead of exposing the natural gem, they chose to keep it a secret to protect the area. But with the photos widely exhibited, more visitors and amateur photographers are making the arduous trip to the mountainous area.

The brilliant red soil, a sharp contrast with the yellow rapeseed flowers and the deep blue skies, makes the region in Dongchuan a paradise for adventurers.

The famous red earth scenery which can be mostly found between 1,800 and 2,600 meters above sea level results partly from high temperatures and frequent rain. Rich in iron and aluminum, the soil is arid and lacks in organic matter.

The best place to see a vast, typical red soil scene is at Huashitou (109km marker), where mountains and fields display different shades of reds — crimson, magenta and rusty red.

Hilltops afar are blooming with layers of layers of colors, such as green, white and gold. Experts say Huashitou red soil is one of the world’s most imposing such scenes, second only to that of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Damakan, a viewpoint about 9 kilometers away from Huashitou along a bumpy dirt track, is one of the photographers’ favorites.

When the light comes out, the small village several hundred meters below gets busy and smoke starts rising from the farm houses. After lunch, it’s time for another shoot as the light turns warmer and brings out the best in Dongchuan’s colors.

How to get there: The flight from Shanghai to Kunming is almost four hours. Buses to Dongchuan — about three hours — are available at both Kunming North Bus Station and Kunming East Bus Station. Renting a car from Kunming to Huagou costs around 250 yuan (US$36.23) one way.

The best time to visit Dongchuan is from May to June, or from September to December.

In Nepal, Mountaineering expedition organizers in Nepal are sending huge trash bags with climbers on Mount Everest during the spring climbing season to collect trash that then can be winched by helicopters back to the base camp.

Dambar Parajuli of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal said recently that bags have already been sent to the base camp to be carried by climbers, guides and porters to higher elevations.

Each bag can hold up to 80 kilograms of trash and can be hooked to helicopters at Camp 2 to be flown back to the base camp. The helicopters, after dropping off supplies and equipment at the camp located at 6,400 meters, generally fly back empty.

Hundreds of climbers and their guides are expected to attempt to scale the 8,850-meter peak during the spring season. Climbers generally arrive in April and attempt to reach the summit in May when weather conditions are favorable. They leave behind a lot of garbage.

Climbers also say it is urgent to remove the trash left by previous expeditions at Camp 2, which was set up in 2014 and 2015 when tragedies forced an early end to the climbs.

The 2014 season was canceled after 16 Nepalese guides were killed in an avalanche, and the following year an earthquake-triggered avalanche swept the base camp, killing 19 people.

Veteran guide Russell Brice said the tents and supplies that were left behind have to be removed.

Doing it by helicopter means Sherpa guides do not have to risk carrying heavy loads of trash through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall to the base camp.

Brice, one of the leading expedition organizers, said that for trash left higher up the mountain he was offering Sherpa guides carrying equipment up the mountain for their clients to bring back bags filled with trash to Camp 2.

They would be paid US$2 per kilogram, and would use bags that can hold 5 kilograms.

CHINA: Sanya, Shanghai Any Destination In China Depend On Your Country Of Origin

Whether you end up in Sanya, Shanghai or another destination in China seems to depend partly on what country you come from.

How do you choose your favourite spot in China when there is just so many to choose from? Ardi Pulaj is well acquainted with the problem.

You just have to give up trying.

Mr Pulaj can run off a list of about 30 places stretched across the country that he has visited, many of which he now regards with close affection.

China offers so many options for travelling, and each of them is unique in what it has to offer, A Beijing reident says.

There are so many places that can be considered favourites, such as Sanya (Hainan province), Dalian (Liaoning province) and Shanghai.”

In Sanya it was the weather and beaches that took his fancy because, he said, they allowed him to get away from the fast pace of big-city life.

Dalian made it to his shortlist because of its pleasant character, cleanliness and the fact that this city on the coast offers respite from the kind of hot summer weather you get in Beijing.

For him, Shanghai is also admirable, “a convenient city with the true spirit of a metropolis”.

At a tourism industry conference in Kunming, Yunnan province, in November, Gold Palm, a tourism consulting service in Shanghai, unveiled a list of 10 Chinese tourism destinations popular with visitors from outside the mainland.

Gold Palm said it discerned a clear difference in favourite destinations named as a product of where tourists came from.

For example, while many American visitors had Chengdu and Jiuzhaigou, both in Sichuan province, at the top of the list of their favourite destinations in China, Japanese opted for Shanghai and Beijing, South Koreans plumped for Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, and Thais had a soft spot for the ancient city of Fenghuang, also in Hunan.

Those from the US favour places offering leisure, while spots featuring unusual and even challenging landscape appeal to tourists from South Korea, said the executive director of Gold Palm, Liu Dan. Zhangjiajie, Huangshan, Fenghuang and Hangzhou appeal to South Koreans because of the scenery, he said.

“A laid-back lifestyle and distinctive cuisine — and pandas — make Sichuan highly attractive to Americans.”

The Japanese like urban scenic spots and Europeans look for culture, which takes them to places such as Leshan in Sichuan and Xi’an in Shaanxi province for ancient historical heritage, Mr Liu said.

About 128 million tourists from outside the mainland flocked to such attractions last year, comprising 26 million foreign tourists and the rest being from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Inbound tourism grew seven per cent in the first 10 months of this year compared with the corresponding period last year, Mr Liu said, adding that the number of such tourists is expected to reach 130 million this year, thanks to increasing numbers of tourists from Japan and South Korea.

The number of South Korean tourists to the mainland rose 48 per cent this year, compared with the corresponding period last year.

Beijing alone drew in more than 300,000 visitors from South Korea in the first nine months of this year. South Korea was the top source country, followed by Japan, with 190,000.

Last year, more than 828,000 Japanese tourists visited Shanghai, accounting for 10 per cent of all inbound tourists to the mainland, Mr Liu said.

Cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an remain the all-time favourites among foreign tourists, said Yu Liangbing, deputy general manager of China Youth Travel Service Co in Beijing.

But areas with attractive scenery are luring more visitors thanks to word of mouth and the impact of movies. Mr Yu attributed the popularity of Zhangjiajie partly to the film Avatar, some of which were shot there. Yichang is popular because of the Three Gorges Dam spanning the Yangtze River, he said.

The route from the upper reaches of the Yangtze, starting from Chengdu or Chongqing across Jiangxi and Hubei provinces to Shanghai is one of the most popular among inbound tourists.

Silk Road- themed trips featuring Xi’an and going all the way to Dunhuang in Gansu province, or journeys tracking the Grand Canal from Beijing across Shandong, Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Shanghai are also becoming more popular, he said.

One of the agency’s most popular tours is an eight-day trip that takes in Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai, costing about $1,000 (£650).

“Some tourists have begun to warm up to places in north-western China, such as the Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions,” Mr Yu said.

His company arranged for 40 American tourists to drive themselves from Sichuan to the Tibet autonomous region this summer.

More tourists from the US are expected to visit the mainland as the China-US Year of Tourism is launched next year, he said.

Mr Pulaj advised would-be tourists to the mainland never to travel during national holidays because, he said, there are so many people on the move it is impossible to have an enjoyable time.

He had recently seen “gorgeous” photos of scenery in Tibet, and hoped to visit it soon, he said. He is also keen to visit Yunnan where, he said, places such as Lijiang, Dali and Shangri-la give “the perfect sense of natural beauty”.