Fresh in from China

[KyushuCalanthe]

Back from the trip to Sichuan. All I can say is that it was amazing. China is not what I expected - truly a land of contrast. Exhausted now since I had to jump literally directly into work and had no time to do anything really with the mountain of digital data I brought back. Here is a tease.

Mecanopsis punicea - one of the "wow" plants of the tour.

Stanhopea tigrina - a plant at Holger Perner's greenhouse near Chengdu.

Cyp. tibeticum - in habitat. I saw hundreds of plants of this one and thousands of Cyp. flavum.

A guesthouse on the very verge of the great Tibetan Plateau (~3200 meters elevation). We stayed two nights in this idyllic town amongst a people absolutely distinct from the lowland Han Chinese.

I'll post more as time and energy permits. I've got tons of material for my blog, so I will be focusing mostly in that direction, but I won't forget to put things up here as well. LOTS of video too - hours of editing. I hope to be finished by Christmas...

 

[NYEric]

Welcome home. Thanks for sharing. Tell us about the food!

 

[SlipperFan]

Nice sample -- it must have been a wonderful, enlightening trip!

 

[Trithor]

Wow, great trip by the sounds of it. I cant wait for additional posts.

 

[Ray]

In one of my former lives, I had a territory that included North-, Central-, & South America, Japan, and China, but also got to take in other pacific Rim nations, and Europe from time to time, and I found China to be one of the more inviting places.

The geography in many places is nothing like you'll see anywhere else, and the people are very friendly (especially the farther you get from Beijing & military/government installations - but isn't that true everywhere?).

Granted, as this was 25 years ago, a westerner was a rarity, especially in the smaller towns, so maybe that got me different treatment, but it was just so damned comfortable.

 

[emydura]

Nice photos. Looks like a wonderful trip. My all-time favourite documentary would be the BBC's 'Wild China'. Such as amazing country with an incredible variety of landscapes. Maybe one day I will get there.

 

[NYEric]

If I ever hit the Lotto, we will all have a lot of Asian plants!!

 

[abax]

Definitely a tease! I think the first place I'd want to go in China is one
of the panda breeding centers and then see orchids and such.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

The part of China we visited demands either a guide to take you to "hot spots" for plants or experience on the ground. Assuming I could drive in China (I'm not sure I'd want to!) and had a bit of survival language (doable), I could go back there alone and see some great things. Road conditions vary due largely to road construction which makes many places impassible for long periods. You can't imagine some of the places we went - in a word many roads were scary.

Tell us about the food!

Hot, very, very hot! Chilli peppers find their way into most dishes, though not all. I'd guess that around 80% of the food we ate was vegetables. Let's just say I lost around 5-7 pounds during the trip and I ate a lot. I also drank tons of beer - all 2.5% so I spent a lot of time peeing and very little swooning. Overall I really enjoyed the authentic Sichuanese cuisine.

Nice sample -- it must have been a wonderful, enlightening trip!

It was, and it is actually impossible to put it into words.

Definitely a tease! I think the first place I'd want to go in China is one
of the panda breeding centers and then see orchids and such.

If you go to Chengdu City (the capitol of Sichuan) you can see pandas at the panda park there. Finding orchids is a bit more tricky and will likely require a guide to see good stuff. I HIGHLY recommend the Perner's tour company - it is a precious experience. Holger and Wenqing were fabulous hosts, patient, generous, and gracious throughout the 2 weeks we were with them. I can't recommend them too highly.

A word of warning, if you are squeamish about dirty toilets, you may want to pass on traveling in the Chinese countryside. I'm a tolerant man, but wow, some places were beyond imagination... as scary as a homicide crime scene and more...

 

[Trithor]

These additional anecdotes make me hungry for more pictures , ......and Chinese food

 

[SlipperFan]

...
A word of warning, if you are squeamish about dirty toilets, you may want to pass on traveling in the Chinese countryside. I'm a tolerant man, but wow, some places were beyond imagination... as scary as a homicide crime scene and more...

I remember those, as well!

 

[NYEric]

I've been invited to China to hunt orchids but unless I inherit a fortune.....
The food sounds like a party ; did you eat any exotic meat or veggies?

 

[Paul Mc]

This is very fascinating to me! My great niece just returned from Beijing on a teaching expedition.

I've been studying Chinese history and culture for around 8 years now, and have been cooking traditional Chinese food from all of the various regions. Must say not what I expected, but even my Chinese friends are impressed that I know how to cook some of their beloved dishes!

And yes, the region you are in are renowned for their use of Sichuan berries and chilies. If it doesn't scorch the mouth and burn on the way out, they seem to not appreciate it that much, lol...


Paul McMahon
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Clark]

WOW! What a trip!!!

I lose about the same weight when on trips. Something always happens when I break for food, so I wait to feed.

 

[Trithor]

WOW! What a trip!!!

I lose about the same weight when on trips. Something always happens when I break for food, so I wait to feed.

I love feeding, so I generally break from feeding to do something (only briefly though)

 

[NYEric]

Heehee!

 

[Erythrone]

Meconopsis punicea and Cyp. tibeticum: just wonderful!!

 

[Ozpaph]

thanks for the phots