If you ever think about China, The Great Wall of China might be the first thought to pop into your mind. But as someone who has been to China several times, I have to tell you there are many more places than The Great Wall of China. My favorite place has to be Sichuan. Does that sound familiar to you? Yes, it is a province where people eat a lot of spicy food. If you like spicy food and animals at the same time, I recommend Chengdu to be your first stop in China.

Chengdu

My mom’s family is from Chengdu (a city in Sichuan) and whenever I go back I also visit my grandma and my uncle. They also prepare me with delicious food that I don’t usually get to eat in America. (You know the food always tastes better in grandma’s hands). So I always look forward to seeing them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HuaHua

Not only there is tasteful food around the city, but I have to introduce to you this place has the biggest center for Pandas. Yes, the Panda you can see in Washington D.C. But here is different because eventually there is a celebrity Panda named Hua Hua(translation for flower) who went viral online for its overload cuteness.

 

If you compare HuaHua to her brother HeYe, you can see that her body shape is unique among her fellow friends. It is almost in the shape of a triangle like a Japanese rice ball. When I saw her, it was indeed a rice ball. She is very chubby and shy. She even waves to people who wave to her. I don’t remember how many times I said “awww” to express her adorableness. Although she is a young adult now around 3 years old, she is still distinctive short, and chubby compared to others.  Another thing I noticed about her is that she has her own rhythm: eats slowly, moves slowly, and avoids trouble such as fighting over food. I think that is why she’s the hottest panda in the place because she can relate to most people.

“Don’t want to care, yet just do whatever she feels like at the moment” quoted my grandma.

A note if you want to see HuaHua: It was two summers ago that I went to see HuaHua and I waited in lines for about 2 hours to see her for a few minutes. If you are impatient, then don’t do it because the line is insanely long.

“Why? Isn’t all pandas the same? Why this one?” – a scold from my cousin.

If you are very curious like me and have time, then I recommend doing it because why not?

 

 

 

 

 

Hong Ya Dong

If you like to party late at night or just want to take a city walk at night, then Hong Ya Dong you must visit. It is not in Sichuan, it is in Chongqing (a different province). But it is right next to Sichuan. So it is pretty convenient.

I literally went there for food because I was craving for hotpot. We chose a hotpot place that is near the view of Hong Ya Dong:

The view was amazing and you could see the city start to glow as the sun went down. The food was always the best although it was too spicy at my level. Because my grandma and uncle are based in Chongqing, they are used to the spiciness of most stores. But I, like most Americans but a little better, still cannot handle the spice level in most of Chongqing’s stores.

Luckily, you can choose the spice level (usually 1-5) at your preference and I recommend level 1 because trust me, you cannot do higher if eating spice is not your thing.

Notice how the grid of the hotpot is very different from the usual stores we see in the US. It is called the “Nine Grid” hotpot where each layer has a different temperature and different concentration of tastes. You can boil different ingredients on different grids to get the best taste, or you can use the same ingredients and cook them on different grids to feel the changes in the ingredients. This is the secret of the Nine Grid hotpot.