With all of the amazement about Sichuan food and the Giant Pandas, I almost forgot about one of the famous nicknames for the Sichuan Provence - Heaven's Pantry (天府之国), until Victor reminded me with a sense of pride in his voice. He told us, Heaven in this context means the Emperor. In the old days, Chinese believed the Emperor was the Son of the God came to the middle earth to govern people. The reason why it was nicknamed Heaven's Pantry was because Sichuan had been rich in agriculture. There were many rivers flowing through the region to make a fertile land. I asked what kind of food Sichuan produces? Victor said, all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and rice. Also, Sichuan is the proud producer of 8 out of 10 rice wines in China! Our visit just coincided with the Candy and Wine convention in Chengdu.
I thought to myself, how interesting, Cantonese pride ourselves as located in the Food Basket of China, because of the Pearl river delta that makes the fertile land. We just went from one fertile land of China to another!
I thought to myself, how interesting, Cantonese pride ourselves as located in the Food Basket of China, because of the Pearl river delta that makes the fertile land. We just went from one fertile land of China to another!
With my limited knowledge and bias about Provences of China, any region north of Guangdong I thought it was the Northern China. They speak Mandarin, and we Southerners speak Cantonese. Northern China is not fertile because of the cold weather. Lots of produces and food were farmed and distributed from the south. I was often corrected by people from Shanghai and Sichuan, that Northern China is regions north of the yellow river, which is pretty up north. Alas, that's the limitation of my middle-school-level Chinese education.
The second day we checked out of the nice Buddha hotel in Chengdu and drove to Mt. EMei. Because we left at commuting hours around 9 AM, it took us one hour just to get out of Chengdu, while normally it only took 20 minutes. After we left the city, the ride was pleasant. Nice wide highway connecting farmlands and factories. Indeed, we passed apple orchards, vineyards, strawberry farms, corn fields, and lots of tea farms! We also drove over a few bridges over the rivers that made the land so fertile! I love road trips and the road trip in Sichuan was such a treat!
To me the tea farms were what make the road trip so special. It reminds me of those fiery poppy fields, vineyards and ancient castles by the side of the highways from Paris to Grenoble. Tea is one of the national treasures of China, which defines the ancient country trace back to thousands of years. People drink tea everyday, they trade and collect tea. Almost every township has its specialty tea, and people take pride in their local tea. The tea around this region is called "bamboo leaf green." The tea leaves are skinny and pointy. Victor had this tea in a bottle everyday, and he kept refilling with hot water on the road. Tea farms are what make it a unique road trip experience. The roadtrip also remind me of the trip from San Francisco to Napa vineyards.
The second day we checked out of the nice Buddha hotel in Chengdu and drove to Mt. EMei. Because we left at commuting hours around 9 AM, it took us one hour just to get out of Chengdu, while normally it only took 20 minutes. After we left the city, the ride was pleasant. Nice wide highway connecting farmlands and factories. Indeed, we passed apple orchards, vineyards, strawberry farms, corn fields, and lots of tea farms! We also drove over a few bridges over the rivers that made the land so fertile! I love road trips and the road trip in Sichuan was such a treat!
To me the tea farms were what make the road trip so special. It reminds me of those fiery poppy fields, vineyards and ancient castles by the side of the highways from Paris to Grenoble. Tea is one of the national treasures of China, which defines the ancient country trace back to thousands of years. People drink tea everyday, they trade and collect tea. Almost every township has its specialty tea, and people take pride in their local tea. The tea around this region is called "bamboo leaf green." The tea leaves are skinny and pointy. Victor had this tea in a bottle everyday, and he kept refilling with hot water on the road. Tea farms are what make it a unique road trip experience. The roadtrip also remind me of the trip from San Francisco to Napa vineyards.
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