We were sitting around in Kaifeng, waiting for the train back to Zhengzhou, when Feng found our new travel destination.

“I was thinking maybe we could go to Chengdu…”

“Sichuan?”

“Yeah. It’s only 90 minutes from Chongqing by train.”

“Why not?”

We really didn’t plan the trip. Other options on the table at the time were Xi’an (we all loved the city last year), Qingdao (apparently not cheap apartments available, though) or even Shenyang.

Basically, any city in China before going back to Beijing.

Chengdu? Why not. I knew very little about it, except the name in Chinese, 成都.

“I thought ‘Sichuan’ was a spice….”

“It’s actually a province, Mark. But they like spicy food over there.”

“Sichuan peppercorn?”

“That, for instance.”

And so we booked a place and train tickets to Chengdu. Easy.

I didn’t mind moving on after Chongqing. I even officially told Feng that I’d never start a new life in Chongqing, and that’s from someone who is constantly considering starting a new life in many, many places around the world.

I enjoyed Chongqing as a tourist but holy shit, this city is exhausting.

In many ways, it reminded me of Hong Kong—millions of people packed on a tiny piece of land between rivers and mountains, ultra-specific food specialties, a unique local culture that makes you wonder if you’re still in China, and a vague Disneylandesque feel.

Interesting for a bit but after five days, I was done with Chongqing.

So we packed, walked to the subway station (a painful walk, mind you, uphill, and it was hot!), and took the train to Chengdu.

Finally, I can breathe!

I almost cried when I started looking for dinner and suddenly, I saw a woman praying facing Mecca in the middle of a restaurant. There are Hui people in Chengdu, hurrah! Honestly, they have the best noodles ever—I was getting sick of Chongqing’s “little noodles.”

Chengdu is less visually exciting than Chongqing, but it’s an adventure too.

Plus panda. Chengdu actually has pandas.