Travelers impressed by Chengdu lifestyle

Group of 10 experience many wonders of Sichuan provincial capital

The Chengdu tourist bureau, Chengdu Culture and Tourism Development Group and Ctrip.com, an online travel service provider, brought 10 travelers from Britain, the United States, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong - Chengdu's five largest sources of tourists outside the Chinese mainland - to experience the capital of Sichuan province from Dec 23 to 25.

The travelers were selected in early December from nearly 1,000 applicants from more than 20 countries and regions. The 10 were then divided into five groups to experience different aspects of the city: Qingcheng Mountain, the Dujiangyan ancient irrigation system, the ancient town of Anren, the giant pandas and their natural habitat, and Chengdu's downtown area of restaurants.

Five teams of cameramen filmed their travels, and the footage will be packaged as reality TV programs to promote the city.

The campaign is part of the China Travelers' Forum, to be held in March 2016 in Chengdu and which aims to promote the city as a global tourist destination. The forum is being organized by the three agencies and more than 1,000 travelers, tourism officials, entrepreneurs and experts are expected to attend.

Organizers hope that the 10 travelers, who have a total of more than 1 million fans on their social media accounts, can take advantage of their followings to increase Chengdu's popularity.

Hui Kei, one of the 10 who is a freelance writer from Hong Kong, brought his wife, Ha Sai, and son, Hui Lap Ha, to Chengdu.

"It was the first time that my family had traveled together. I prefer Chengdu's leisurely tempo of life to the breakneck pace in Hong Kong. Chengdu is a place to enjoy life," Hui said.

The Hui's visited the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu and said they fell in love with the animals at first sight. They also visited Xiling Snow Mountain and said they came away in awe of the views. On the third day of their trip, they visited Chengdu's modern downtown area.

Serena Yue Liang Goh, one of the travelers selected who runs a tourism website in New York, said Chengdu is full of vitality. She said she was attracted by Chengdu's culture, rapid development, food and leisurely life.

She thinks the Broad and Narrow Alleys, two ancient roads in central Chengdu, impressed her because of the many ancient buildings, snacks and artworks concentrated in the area.

She uploaded a photo of her holding a stuffed toy panda on a social media app and said her friends were eager to hear about her trip to Chengdu.

She said the pace of life in Chengdu is much slower than in New York, Beijing and Shanghai, adding that the local residents prefer face-to-face interaction than playing with their smartphones.

Jessamine Barnieh and her husband Edward visited the ancient town of Anren; the former residence of Du Fu, an accomplished poet during the Tang Dynasty (618-907); and the Jinsha Ruins, which has a history of more than 3,000 years.

Edward Barnieh said he was amazed that ancient Chinese builders laid bricks with mortar made from egg whites and sticky rice and marveled that a major landlord named Liu Wencheng owned nearly half of Chengdu's houses in the 1930s and 1940s. Jessamine Barnieh said Chengdu does a good job protecting its culture, traditional lifestyle and ancient buildings.

The couple received more than 40,000 likes and 80 comments in three hours of sharing their photos of Anren ancient town.

Aaron Yang and his friend Collin Tan are two food lovers from Singapore. A Chengdu chef who has prepared dinners for former Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew and US President Barack Obama during their visits to Beijing taught the two how to make noodles as thin as hair at a luxury hotel in the Broad and Narrow Alleys.

They also watched the province's traditional Face Changing performance, tasted local teas and experienced life in the city.

Yang said the spicy Sichuan food is much more than peppers and hotpot.

"Sichuan food has extensive and profound cultural and historical backgrounds."

Tan said there must be many more tasty dishes in the alleys of Chengdu that they didn't have enough time to try in their three days of travel.

"I will definitely come again," he added.

Australian travelers Victoria McEwan and Elaina Bird visited the Dujiangyan ancient irrigation system, Qingcheng Mountain and enjoyed a hot spring.

"This is my first trip to Chengdu. I thought it was a green city," said McEwan.

She said she also found that Chengdu has a long history and splendid culture.

(China Daily European Weekly 01/01/2016 page20)