Day 84 (29 August): Sichuan
This morning we flew from Guangzhou to Chengdu. We ate lunch in Chengdu and then headed out to Mt. Emei which is about about 160 km away. Along the way we stopped at a 'Tea Museum' and drove by numerous rice farms and villages.
Arriving in the town at the base of Mt. Emei we saw the Baoguo Temple and then walked around the grounds of the hotel we are staying in which is quite a resort in and of itself and has been the mountain retreat/stomping ground of China's rulers in the past.
Observations:
1) Infrasturce. The airport in Guangzhou was very impressive, besting most US airports. It was only one year old though. The city is clearly awaiting a strong future, although the number of flights in and out is quite high even today.
2) Gas in China is cheap. It cost under $2 a gallon which is less than it was in California when I left nearly three months ago, although I'd imagine its much closer to $3 there these days. Besides which that's 90 octane gas, not the 87 octane stuff that'd be priced lower (but is unavailable in China.)
3) Infrasturcture. The highway to Mt. Emei was quite impressive; it was a very high quality road and the traffic moved quickly. A copuple of the places that people lived along the way, at least from their exteriors looked moderately luxurious which wasn't something I would expect a farming area in many places of the world, especially not in China.
4) Chiang Kai Shek. Walking around the hotel's grounds, one of the reasons that Chiang Kai Shek became unpopular is apparent. He built a palace type retreat for himself here at the same time that the Japanese were invading China. If anyone knew about that, I would imagine they wouldn't be too happy with it. That's probably part of why he ended up with the ROC limited to Taiwan.
Wierd events of the day：
1） 11：30 pm phone call where the person on the other end was speaking in Japanese and looking for a Japanese guy staying in the room. I had to use my Japanese to tell him he made a mistake.
2) 12:30 am knock on the door that we didn't answer followed by a phone call from 'the manager' of the hotel demanding we open the door. Upon opening the door, told that we should have a massage from the lady outside.
Arriving in the town at the base of Mt. Emei we saw the Baoguo Temple and then walked around the grounds of the hotel we are staying in which is quite a resort in and of itself and has been the mountain retreat/stomping ground of China's rulers in the past.
Observations:
1) Infrasturce. The airport in Guangzhou was very impressive, besting most US airports. It was only one year old though. The city is clearly awaiting a strong future, although the number of flights in and out is quite high even today.
2) Gas in China is cheap. It cost under $2 a gallon which is less than it was in California when I left nearly three months ago, although I'd imagine its much closer to $3 there these days. Besides which that's 90 octane gas, not the 87 octane stuff that'd be priced lower (but is unavailable in China.)
3) Infrasturcture. The highway to Mt. Emei was quite impressive; it was a very high quality road and the traffic moved quickly. A copuple of the places that people lived along the way, at least from their exteriors looked moderately luxurious which wasn't something I would expect a farming area in many places of the world, especially not in China.
4) Chiang Kai Shek. Walking around the hotel's grounds, one of the reasons that Chiang Kai Shek became unpopular is apparent. He built a palace type retreat for himself here at the same time that the Japanese were invading China. If anyone knew about that, I would imagine they wouldn't be too happy with it. That's probably part of why he ended up with the ROC limited to Taiwan.
Wierd events of the day：
1） 11：30 pm phone call where the person on the other end was speaking in Japanese and looking for a Japanese guy staying in the room. I had to use my Japanese to tell him he made a mistake.
2) 12:30 am knock on the door that we didn't answer followed by a phone call from 'the manager' of the hotel demanding we open the door. Upon opening the door, told that we should have a massage from the lady outside.
posted by Traveling Brian at 5:33 AM
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