China. More importantly first visit to the First Lounge

[bPeteb]

Due to work travel over 2017/8 I ended up Accor Le Club platinum. I stayed at either The Swanston or Mercure on Collins and managed to get zero upgrades over 30 visits! I'd read on AFF that Asian Accor properties are a bit better at looking after guests with status so we took a punt with reservations at Grand Mercures in Xi'an and Beijing. 40% off sale made both bookings, of basic king rooms (with no breakfast), great value.

Welcomed like family on check-in at Grand Mercure Renmin Square and advised upgraded to a suite. We were running so late we literally walked in the door



went oh my god



dumped our bags, and ran back out the door and up the road to the meeting point for our food tour.

We had booked three food tours - Tuk Tuk tours with Lost Plate in Xi'an and Beijing and a walking tour with Chengdu Food Tours.

Supposed to be at the meeting point 15 minutes before tour start but everyone was still there when we got there at 6. Offered a beer to start off with. Perfect!

The tour was great. Concentrated in the Muslim Quarter. Our guide Faye was very open about the issues that the Muslim community has had with the local government in trying to preserve their community inside the walls of old Xi'an. Faye also talked about the use of bribery to get around paying exorbitant taxes on businesses (she owns a small restaurant).

The tuk tuks were small, hot, uncomfortable and a hoot. Faye was very informative. Our group interested and engaged. The food delicious. We had a party six New Yorkers (Long Islanders) with us. They seemed a bit precious initially but they were just looking after their 85 year old mum! She wanted to take her kids somewhere different to celebrate her birthday. They sure got different.



Faye at work at our first stop. More meat skewers. No beer in the Muslim restaurants we visited. Here it was fresh plum made by the owner. Delicious,



and took some of the bite from the hot Sichuan spices on the skewers

 

[bPeteb]

more of the tour

soup dumplings. I was completely hopeless at picking them up without bursting them

 

[bPeteb]

next meal was in restaurant in the courtyard of a home. Very interesting food here



including deep fried chicken



with head...

 

[bPeteb]

we finished in a bar where we got a free beer then it was buy your own after that. Had a couple more with a young couple from Ontario (I think) who had been on the tour. Her family were Cantonese who had moved to Canada in the 70s. Really loud musicians that eventually hurt my head!


we decided we'd walk back to our respective hotels. We walked past what appeared to be an impromptu concert being held under one of the gates, surprisingly being sung in Cantonese we were told



and walked past the Bell Tower



It was a good way to walk off the food, beer and soft drink consumed during the evening. We had a lot of exercise planned for the next day

 

[bPeteb]

The one thing they did get wrong on check-in was telling me only one breakfast was included. As we came back in to the hotel I asked again and was again told just for me. I said no, booking was for two, and free platinum breakfast was for member and guest/s in room. I got a 'yes' in reply.

Time to check out our sweet suite. Since we'd raced in and out a large fruit bowl and plate of macaroons/macarons had been left in the living room. Living room, separate hall powder room, giant bathroom with an odd kind of roman bath. Clear glass in bathroom windows that meant no ability to have natural light of you were using the facilities. But, beautiful

 

[bPeteb]

Our first real sleep in since we started this trip. Bed was disappointingly not as comfortable as either of us had hope. It reminded me of the old things at The Swanston. The Lanzhou bed was way better!

Lots of noise outside. Wedding parties. This Bentley seemed to be there for hours.



Breakfast was quite the spread and restaurant quite a beautiful space. Stuff the Asian breakfast. It was all about croissants and danish and fresh eggs. Yum. Partner had Asian. He's much more dedicated...



We eventually wandered out the door at about 11 and headed for the closest city gate to rent bikes to cycle around the city walls.

Pipe garden along the way



Local area between hotel and wall



City gate

 

[bPeteb]

It's nearly 17kms around the city and I loved it. Partner not quite so enthusiastic by the end. Chaffing is a killer! It was hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky but it was great. Bikes are 100RMB (I think) for three hours and it took us two and a half with lots of photo and drink stops.

To the views of the wall, outside and inside them.

 

[bPeteb]

and some more. What a great was to spend a few hours.



This was a dental surgery with four beds, that you could watch from outside. Truly one of the weirdest things we saw



The grounds of the hotel. There was a Sofitel and a Legends Sofitel or Sofitel Legends as well as teh Grand Mercure in the Renmin Square complex



My legs were sore so we decided to go find the pool. It was over at the Sofitel. We had to buy bathing caps to get in! Got changed and went up to the pool. A lovely looking pool that I had just got into when partner said no way I'm getting in because all he could smell was pee. Lot of kids in the pool. I was out in a flash.

We went down to the spa area and both had a soak in a much cleaner smelling but not very warm pool that was a bit onsen like. There were open showers and a glass fronted sauna and steam room occupied by naked men of various sizes. It was just a bit odd.

 

[bPeteb]

The welcome drink voucher was only usable in the lobby bar of the Sofitel so we wandered across. Presented the voucher and shown a screen on an iPad with a list of soft drink, tea and coffee. I asked "wine or beer?" No, just what was on the screen. Even the voucher mentioned something about the responsible consumption of alcohol. So we ordered a couple of typical hotel price gins and watched the interesting parade of people coming and going.



This included a group of gentlemen who got out of a small bus and were then escorted into the buffet restaurant by a group of young women all dressed in matching polo shirts and chinos. It was like the pool and spa area quite odd.

I had a second try with the voucher. After much discussion between our trainee barperson and her supervisor she came back and showed me a whole different couple of pages on the iPad, clearly headed Le Club Gold/Platinum voucher - beer, wine, bubbles, basic spirits. I had a beer and partner a very nice Sav Blanc.

We decided on dinner in their recently opened Japanese restaurant. Sat at a long table looking into the sushi prep area. Beside us was sat a guy being served a lot of small dishes and taking photos and a lot of notes. We both got the feeling he was the Japanese 'master' assessing the food. Boy was a lot of sushi sent back by the general punters. In every instance it appeared it was missing a vital component. He watched it all.

We had a set tepanyaki menu, just not sat at the tepanyaki bar. It was pretty darn good, some of it excellent. It was served in a strange order. The recommended sake very good, and reasonably priced. The food was I think expensive but we were sat in a Sofitel. The a la carte was very expensive as were some of the other tepanyaki and sushi options. We were only in Japan two months before so it was an interesting comparison.

Beautiful fish sculpture in entry and sculptural sinks in bathroom



To the food

 

[bPeteb]

Then what we presume what was described as desert



then back to savoury. I really should have taken a photo of the menu, again on an iPad.



Service initially was horribly slow. We waited forever for our first course. The maitre de Ash kept coming by and apologising. We saw one guy come out and say they'd been waiting 40 minutes and no food. Once it started coming though it was a steady flow. Maybe a bit fast to be honest.

At the end of the meal Ash offered us a tour (I was in the sculptural loo when he asked my partner) but we had a very early start and partner declined. When I got back we were talking to Ash and said we'd recently been in Japan. He asked what I thought of the decor. I said compared to some of the over the top design we'd seen it was pretty subdued but compared to Japanese design where 'less is more' it was still a little 'more is more'. I used the example of the strange display of fans behind the tepanyaki plates. You ask and I will tell.

It was yet another great, but slightly odd night.

 

[bPeteb]

Xi’an – Chengdu

We began our second Tour Beijing private tour from pick-up at the Chengdu East HSR station.

Arrive at Chengdu East by train D1911 at 11:18am.

Arrival at East Chengdu Railway Station, met by our local tour guide. After Chinese lunch, first have a stroll around People's Park. People's Park is the most popular park in Chengdu. People's Park provides tourists an opportunity to have a glimpse of the leisure city of Chengdu. It is a great public outlet for joggers, tai qi enthusiasts, gamers, musicians, tea drinkers and grandparents with their grandchildren in tow.

Then have a walk along Jinli Street. It has become a major tourist attraction in Chengdu, attracting a great number of travellers each year, which boasts of ancient buildings, traditional cultures, local food and customs. At the end of the day tour, you are transferred back your hotel in Chengdu around 5:00pm.

Meals: Chinese lunch, dinner
Hotel: Yes

Cab was booked for 5:30am and was there waiting for us when we came out into the pre-dawn morning. Hotel porter told him where we wanted to go and although we started off in the right direction (according to Al's MapMe app) we soon veered off. Al was getting a little concerned but it was just to get us around some one way streets and only a major arterial road. It took 20 minutes to get us to what looked more like an airport than a station. Apparently the largest station in Asia ('at the moment' Jason our Xi'an guide had stressed).

Security again took very little time, maybe a couple of minutes after a very short queue. Found KFC again (yes, I know) to have a giant coffee and a bacon and egg burger for breakfast. For those who live in or travel to or from Melbourne look who's in Xi'an.



We knew which queue to stand in this time to access the platform. Our tickets didn't work at the automated gates. Far left queue was for us. Business was too expensive to justify on this trip. We booked first but were advised by China Travel that only second class was available.

We were in car two this time. Train was a different model to the one we'd come down to Xi'an on. Not rated to 350kmh like the first. Looked very similar to an N700 for those who know what I'm talking about.




For anyone who has travelled on shinkansen first is like green car (2 2) and second just the standard carriage of (3 2). There was plenty of space for our bags in the large luggage storage at the end of the carriage by making sure we boarded as quickly as we could.



For the reason 'because we could' we bought rock hard Haagen Dazs icecream from the 'cafe' attendant.




There was a 'dining car' on the train but it looked more like a cafe counter when we looked in as we walked past in Chengdu.

Another different HSR model



and views out of the train as we sped towards Chengdu

 

[bPeteb]

A 350kmh rated HSR at Chengdu



I'd created a WeChat account before we left home and had provided these details to Vivian at Tour Beijing to onforward to our guides. Both Helen and Sophia had contacted me before we left home and this let me know who to look for. Even if she hadn't had a sign with our name I knew who to look for when we came off the platform.

What a difference. Whereas Helen was bordering on shy, Sophia was confident and bubbly and had great English. Sophia introduced us to Mr Liu our driver and took as out to the carpark. Instead of a G8, our ride for the week was a black VW Passat.

Sophia said to us that although there was an itinerary, the choice of what we did, and the order we did it, would always be ours. This started straight away - People's Park or an early lunch? We chose park.

It was quite a beautiful park with a surprising number of people in it for a weekday. Sophia said on a weekend it could be like a sardine can. Lots of old trees and water. Very peaceful.



We walked along a path where people (or their parents/grandparents) posted 'adverts' on a fence looking for a partner. Potential suitors, or their families, would come along and take details of the ones that interested them. Funny and sad and most definitely bizarre. It kind of explains the TV show 'If you are the one'. Sophia said her parents were already worried for her. 28, single, no boyfriend.



They love tea houses and mahjong in Chengdu and at People's Park they can indulge in both



A couple more of the park

 

[bPeteb]

Sophia asked if were interested in some tea and although it might have been a nice experience we declined. Instead, we saw this going on - ear cleaning - and somehow got talked into it



Is it a harmless scam? Who knows. Al questions he could have had the amount of wax in his ears that supposedly came out. He also hates anyone going near his ears so this was a nightmare for him. I have no such problems. I did have a problem with it starting at 30 or 40RMB and somehow ending up 100! But really, $20, who cares.



It was then time for lunch and here was another major difference to our first tour. Sophia and Mr Liu sat with us for every meal and it was fantastic! We explained we ate with chopsticks, liked spicy food (we were in Sichuan!) and had no special dietary requirements except no coriander and only delicious food Oh, and a beer please with lunch and dinner

We also said that Helen didn't quite understand our request for less dishes. Sophia did much better in this regard but as they were eating with us we still got what they would have (meaning lots).

Nice beer glass



On the way to Jinli Street

 

[bPeteb]

Before we got to Jinli Sophia warned us to keep wallets out of pockets and any bags that we had with us (camera bags) done up as it was an area frequented by pickpockets. After my Xi'an non-experience I did just that.

Jinli Street could be horrible, and I'd think many people would say that it is. We enjoyed the kitsch, the stores themselves, the people who were obviously loving it. Most of all we loved the crazy food that was on sale. As we were only a couple of hours from our next food tour we again refrained but if we hadn't been I would have had a feast.

Jinli Street...

 

[bPeteb]

more Jinli Street

 

[bPeteb]

and more. We took A LOT of photos here!



I'd emailed ahead and let both Vivian and Sophia know that we had a food tour and wouldn't need dinner. When we got to our hotel Sophia had me sign a handwritten note that we would not require dinner and that we would not be reimbursed for this. I thought odd. Al thought not so odd.

When we'd arrived at the hotel I handed Sophia my very old IHG card and were surprised to be handed two cans of soft drink with our room key card. An IHG welcome gift

We were booked into the Holiday Inn Express Chengdu Wuhou and it was excellent. Top floor. Roomy, 'only' a queen size bed but that bed was the most comfortable bed of our stay by far.

 

[bPeteb]

The metro stop was around the corner less than a 10 minute walk away. Chinese metros just don't phase us as we know the ticket machines all
have English instructions and for multi-line systems they all work basically the same way - select the colour of the line your destination is on and it will calculate the fare.

We'd been given the station and which exit to come out of and we walked straight out into our group of food tourists - a young Israeli couple, a single Australian-Indian from Melbourne and a young American couple plus Ryan, our Canadian expat guide.

The tour started at a 'burger' joint right next to the metro exit.I wish I'd put what we ate into my phone, but I didn't. A business opened by mum a long time before, now the sons are running it. More like a pocket than a burger. He asked did anyone mind sharing because if we did he'd get them separate ones. No-one was precious. One pork, one bean jelly, one edible fungus. We didn't try the snot. It turned out just a translation issue - it was supposed to be snout. So much better!!


Ryan our terrific guide



All super messy and super delicious.



Some food stalls and other things as we walked to our next stop

 

[bPeteb]

Next was some super delicious, and just a tad spicy, super thick noodles



followed by skewers from a street vendor. Ryan explained that there was less and less street food available in China as the government tried to shut the vendors down. They quoted public health reasons but it was actually all about tax revenue and the difficulty of collecting it from moving vendors. The street food was one of our fond memories from Shanghai (post Expo and Beijing Olympics)

Yep, that's a whole lot of chili on either side of that cooking pot...



I did forget to mention that this tour also included as many beers as you wanted. When Ryan ran out he just bought more.

And now to the rabbit. Chengdu is apparently just about as famous for its rabbit, rabbit heads especially, as it is for as hotpot and this fella is renowned for his bbq rabbit

Not a rabbit fan but considering I chowed down on a couple of guinea pigs in Peru what was it about these quite delicious looking bbqed specimens that held me back?



Maybe it was this. Rabbit head in a bag! Yukkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk



the bits except the head were quite nice, if again super spicy

 

[bPeteb]

we continued our walk though the market area. There were some interesting offerings

 

[bPeteb]

some less meaty offerings


we sampled this gentleman's pickled veg. All made by he and his family. Pickled veg is essential for healthy gut flora. We ate plenty while we were away. Maybe that explained while we didn't have a single gut issue, or 'urgent need for nearby toilet', the whole time we were away.


eggs anyone?


more delicious pickled offerings



eels



and so to the baijiu stall. Baijiu - Wikipedia

We sampled a number of baijiu at this stall. A couple of quite palatable berry varieties and an interesting 'straight' baijiu. Then there was the cough baijiu. Yes, cough. Lots of penises of various small vertebrates. Of course my partner said yes. Ryan said he was the first person to ever say yes but his courage meant we all ended up tasting it. To be honest, way better than the straight stuff that we were all given a bottle of.

Penises top shelf to the far left. The things I do...