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Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams. - Yeats

UPDATED: Tong Yao Film & TV guide 28/05/2023

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Sichuan - part 1


Fuji V10, Lomo - views from the plane

On the 14th of May, I took a five hour Silkair flight to Chengdu (also click here) the capital of Sichuan to begin my ten day visit of the province. After we were greeted at the airport by the local Sichuan guides, the lot of us that flew over from Singapore were split up into two buses. The reason for that was because in the larger group that flew with the tour agency from Singapore, a portion of the group was booked on the eight day tour which excluded Emei Mountain, a portion was booked for the ten day tour which included Emei Mountain and a group of five was booked on the ten day tour which went to the Shunan Bamboo Sea instead of Emei Mountain. I was with the ten day group that went to Emei Mountain. Travelling with me was a friend from Singapore who prefers to go by her online nickname of Oddfatty. =)

There were 27 people in our group and travelling with us were the Singapore guide Lucy, the Sichuan guide Tu Xin, a trainee guide from Sichuan Zhao Dan and two drivers Shen Sifu and Ren Sifu. Apparently, for long bus journeys, like the one I would be traveling on on our way to Jiuzhaigou, tour buses will need to switch between two drivers. This made me feel safer as I'd heard many a horror story involving accidents on the long winding mountainous roads to Jiuzhaigou.

We arrived in Chengdu in the middle of the afternoon, at about 3pm and our first stop for the day was Jinli Street (also click here). Originally, we were suppose to visit the Furong Ancient Town where we were suppose to watch a bianzhong bell ensemble performance but according to the guides, Furong Ancient Town is currently embroiled in a court case, so no bell ensemble performance and hence, the change to Jinli Street. It's a pity. I would have liked to have visited Furong Ancient Town and to view a bianzhong bell ensemble in person. The only time I remember seeing one was on TV and I think it was in a TVB series called Where the Legend Begins (洛神) and this being a TVB series, I highly doubt its authenticity.


A photo of these ancient bells. A pity I wasn't able to view this performance.


Canon 300D - A stone sign which says translates into "Scared Ground of the Three Kingdoms", shots of the street just outside of the entrance to Jinli Street

Anyway, back to Jinli Street. Jinli Street is next to the Marquis Wu's Memorial Temple (Wuhou Memorial Temple) which is a temple that is dedicated to the crafty and highly intelligent Zhuge Liang who was the Martial Marquis of the Kingdom of Shu during the period of the Three Kingdoms in China's history. Chengdu was then the capital city of the Kingdom of Shu and the Wuhou Temple stands as a testament to the rich history of Sichuan and the city of Chengdu.


Canon 300D - Sign introducing Jinli Street, entrance to Jinli Street, the door knob on the large wooden doors that flank the entrace to Jinli Street, little street stalls outside the entrance.

Jinli Street isn't very big but what this 350m street lacks in length, it more than makes up for in history. Jinli Street has a history that dates back to the Qin Dynasty which is some 2000 years ago!! During the period of the Three Kingdoms, Jinli Street was one of the busiest commercial streets in the Kingdom of Shu. Jinli Street's reputation then was closely tied to silk, more specifically the much sought after Shu Brocade.


Photo of a piece of Shu Brocade

Sadly, even though Jinli Street used to be famed for its silk, I actually don't remember seeing a lot of silk. But then again, I'm not much of a shopper and I really didn't enter that many shops so it is quite possible that I missed them. We were only given an hour anyway, so I busied myself walking through the street and snapping a few pictures of the rather pretty buildings and looking at some of the local street food for sale in the section of Jinli Street that sold food.

Although this didn't have the more authentic feel of the two old towns I visited in Guizhou (and yes, I do remember that I've yet to put those photos up :-) ), still the glossy varnished wood and the higher two-story buildings which grace both sides of the street really did resonate elegance and convey a sense of the prosperity this street must have known in the past.


Canon 300D - Jinli Street and yes, Starbucks is everywhere


Canon 300D - a child plays in Jinli Street oblivious to everyone around him


Lomo - Jinli Street

Apparently, the street was restored by contributions from the adjoining Wuhou Memorial Temple and then reopened in 2004 to the public. The new Jinli Street's buildings are modeled after traditional houses in the Sichuan architectural style from the Qing Dynasty so if I understand it correctly, the buildings themselves aren't really that old, just that they look like the traditional buildings from the past. Still, Jinli Street isn't without its more traditional charms. It's filled with little shops that sell traditional ware like Sichuan Opera (川剧) masks and figurines and little street carts offering traditionally made candy and paintings. There is also a little pavilion by a pond and a stage for Sichuan Opera. Apparently they have opera performances in the evening everyday but we were probably there at the wrong time and unfortunately didn't have the opportunity to watch one.


Canon 300D - Making candy, the little pond and the opera stage

What I also found quite interesting was the section of Jinli Street that sold Sichuan street food. My friend and I did buy a stick of "bingtang hulu" (冰糖葫芦). "Bingtang hulu" is candied fruit from the Chinese hawthorn plant and part of the reason why I am fond of this kind of candied fruit is because it's mentioned in several martial arts novels. The one we bought at Jinli Street is very tasty and the best I've eaten. We also bought some Dragon's Beard Candy, which is type of candy that I'm particularly fond of. The one we bought in Jinli Street is really rather nice and the threads of sugar are spun so finely that they melt in your mouth. The filling is a little different from the ones I've had in Singapore but I can't really identify what that difference is.


Canon 300D - street food stalls in Jinli Street, bingtang hulu


Lomo - street food stalls in Jinli


Canon 300D - Dragon's Beard Candy


Fuji V10 - Strawberries bought from fruit sellers near where the tour buses are parked

After our short trip to Jinli Street, we went off for dinner. The dinner was actually rather nice and I quite enjoyed it. Instead of just giving us the usual tour food dishes of vegetables, soup, fried eggs etc, the guides arranged for the restaurant to serve us several small dishes of more traditional Sichuan food. So we had several types of noodles and dumplings which I rather liked and found quite tasty. Luckily I ate a pretty full meal then as the food from here on to and back to Chengdu from Jiuzhaigou was mostly not very good at all.


Fuji V10 - Shui Mi Tao, a type of peach sold by a fruit seller outside the restaurant, a building in Chengdu

After dinner, we went to watch a Chinese musical called Jinsha and I'll talk about that in the next entry on Sichuan.

Later guys... cheers. =)

Thursday, May 24, 2007

I'm Back =)


On the way to a waterfall at Jiuzhaigou.

I returned to Singapore last night after a 10 day trip to Sichuan, China. It was a good trip and I had a very good time and shot a ton of photos. I hope to put them up slowly and finally finish up the account of my Guizhou trip as well.

I love visiting China, I think it is a very beautiful and fascinating country and if I could, I would like to visit it every year and go to all the provinces at least once.

Anyway, I have to go off to work now. First day back at work... will have tons to do.

cheers

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Holiday =)


Image from wiki

I'm off to Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan for a holiday tomorrow. Won't be back till next week. =)

See you guys when I get back.

cheers

Monday, May 07, 2007

Wii would like to play


The Nintendo Wii was finally launched in Singapore last week and I finally managed to buy one after months of waiting since its US launch last December. Unfortunately, this is only the soft launch and these official sets from the Singapore distributor are essentially US sets which they imported and repackaged with a 220v power adaptor. Word is, South East Asia will only get an official launch and a true localized set in Oct of this year.

I, however, decided enough waiting for me as I'd put aside enough money to get the Wii since its launch late last year. So although this soft launch Wii is probably more expensive than the Wii that will be launched late this year and although this is a bundled set, I still got it it in the end. Anyway, I'm on good terms with my heartland game shop guy and he let me trade in Sonic and the Secret Rings for Zelda and I just paid the difference.

I have no regrets as the Wii is a truly fantastic gaming machine and it has provided me and my family hours of fun. My mum LOVES the Wii and plays it almost every single day. I, myself, play it almost everyday unless work gets in the way. A friend and I also threw a joint Wii party on Saturday and the 7-8 of us were at this party for about ten hours.



The Wii is like no other gaming machine on the market right now. It revolutionizes game play by taking it back to the basics. There are no dizzying graphics and complicated stories. It's like the first time one plays pong, you pick up a controller and simply have fun.

It is extremely easy for non-gamers to begin playing as the Wii uses motion control for many of their key and most fun games. The best way to experience the Wii is to play Wii Sports which is a game they very cleverly included as part of the Wii package when one buys the Wii in all regions except Japan right now. Take tennis for example. In order to execute a forehand, one just swings the arm grasping the Wii-mote, which acts as your tennis racket of sorts, like one would swing one's arm when one is playing tennis in real life. Similarly for games like boxing, baseball, golf and bowling, the Wii-mote is grasp and the motion one needs to execute is similar to the action needed in real life. Compare the simpleness of the controls to the complex multi-button, two analog joysticks controllers of the xBoxes and Sony Playstations. It is really THAT easy to play the Wii.

Wii Sports gets my vote as Wii game of the year as it really is the game that illustrates how much potential the Wii has. I have my 60+ year-old mum, my 4+ year-old niece and my non-gaming friends all happy playing the Wii and it is simply amazing to watch them play and to play with them.

And if you ask me what is the biggest thing that has distracted me from blogging these days, it isn't work, it's not my continued recovery from a serious bout of flu, it isn't a tv series I'm hooked on. Instead, it is the Wii and I've not been this hooked on video games since I got obsessed with conquering Soul Calibur on the Sega Dreamcast years and years ago.

So much as I would like to continue with my Guizhou photos, reply to YTSL's request for her meme on films, write up reviews of two rather good Mainland Chinese series that I just saw and talk a bit about Sembawang etc, it is the Wii that has me completely in its spell right now. So I bid adieu as I'm off to play Zelda for now and I will get back to blogging, I promise, but after I get my does of Wii. :)