Latest Comments

• • May 4, 2011
  • Zebra Music Festival 2011: Day 1 in pictures
    

    nice photos, dan! :P

• • August 15, 2010
  • 2010 Pizza World Cup: another one bites the crust
    

    That's funny. I had the exact opposite experience the one time I tried to order a pizza at their "pizzeria" location (the one off First Ring Road). After placing our order, we waited 20 minutes only to be informed that they didn't have enough dough to make pizza and we should "choose another." We left, never to return.

• • July 17, 2009
  • Chengdu 19th most expensive Asian city
    

    If I am making a regular income, I generally spend about 2,000 per month:
    -500 to 800 on rent (shared)
    -50 to 100 per month on transportation (either bus or bike costs, since I frequently need to repair or replace mine)
    -30 to 50 per day on average on food, household goods, toiletries, entertainment, clothing
    That list leaves out one major expense of the foreigner who's not working full-time: the visa cost (and associated trips across the border).

    During tighter times I would try to stay on 1,000 per month, which only works with the help of friends housing me within walking distance of wherever I need to go, and it's still tough, leaving about 30 per day for food and everything else that happens to arise. Studying at Sichuan Uni breaks down to about 1750 per month, or 60 per day, including tuition, books, and visa!

• • June 12, 2009
  • Fuchsia Dunlop: Sichuan cuisine's ambassador to the West
    

    hey huajiao (and any other interested parties), some of us have put together a little DIY vegetarian cookbook zine with the aim of exchanging recipes that can be made relatively easily, quickly, and cheaply with ingredients readily available. i've got like two copies of the second print run left; if you want one, i'd be happy to give it to you, and if you're interested in working with us to flesh it out (no pun intended) before the third print run, i'd be even happier than your sesame-sauce wosun. e-mail me at my username AT gmail [点] com

Latest Forum Posts

• • May 19, 2012
    
  • Forums > Living in Chengdu > Places to go running in the city?
    

    Hey there, my favorite place is Donghu Park, but just one lap around is not very long, well under a mile, I reckon. However, if you go out the back gate you can also go along the river which is pretty nice, segregated from the cars (of which there aren't too many anyway), and also there is one of those "greenbelt"/recreational pathways being built along there, but at the moment it doesn't go very far before you hit a construction wall.

    Otherwise, 2.5 Ring Road heading west (the stretch between Shenxian Shu Nan Lu and Jialing Lu) is OK, not very scenic, but much less traffic (both vehicle and pedestrian) than other parts of the city. Plus the sidewalks are relatively wide and smooth.

    Uni tracks, especially at night, are all right, but boring if you're going longer distances.

    A guy I know organizes occasional trips out of the city for running. He said he'll let me know in advance next time he does, and I will post the info here.

• • May 9, 2012
    
  • Forums > Living in Chengdu > Half-Marathon or Marathon
    

    Ooh, these are possibilities for the fall:
    广州马拉松 11月17日 广州
    云南大理国际马拉松赛 11月23日 云南省大理市

    Thanks for the link!

• • May 9, 2012
    
  • Forums > Living in Chengdu > Half-Marathon or Marathon
    

    As pepper said, Chongqing is probably your best bet for a nearby race. I went to this year's and it was good fun — 30,000 participants (over 5K, 9K, half and full), the roads blocked, etc.

    The race that has taken place in Chengdu before has been not officially sanctioned, smaller scale, no roads closed, etc. I believe the people who organized it in years past have moved away from Chengdu.

• • March 26, 2012
    
  • Forums > Study > Sichuan University Chinese Language program
    

    I studied at SU one semester but visited the dorms only once. All I can remember thinking is they were charging a lot for what the students got. That was five years ago, though, and rental prices around the city have gone up, while I don't know if the dorm prices have. Maybe it's a better deal now, but at that time I think it was RMB1,000 for a small shared room with en suite bathroom and only one kitchen facility for the whole floor or something like that. The whole place seemed a bit grubby as well. I'd rather live off campus, personally, but I am and always have been old and crotchety.

• • March 26, 2012
    
  • Forums > Travel Sichuan > Chongqing
    

    ^ what invisible said, plus it's a fun city just for the mind-blowing visuals and layout. if you're a photographer you'll probably love that aspect, and even if not there are so many crazy things just to look at and think about.

    of the things i've been to in chongqing, i most enjoyed visiting the graffiti district & art school, the foreigner street, ciqikou, and the city planning museum (although my travel mates found the latter insufferably boring).

    it helps to be able to read chinese so that you can jump on and off buses, or prepare beforehand with google map bus directions since that's an inexpensive and comfortable way to travel around the city.

    do let us know if you find any decent food. in four trips there i can't remember having a memorable meal.

Latest Reviews

• • hapatofu
    June 20, 2011
    
  • Chengdu > Vegetarian Lifestyle
    枣子树

    Excellent service and ambiance. The food is good, but the prices keep going up, so expect to pay 50 to 60 per head if you're ordering modestly and in a large group — more if you're splurging or with fewer people. Portions are on the small side but well presented. I'd recommend going with a group of 8 to 20 so that you can get a private room (call ahead to reserve, no extra charge) and order lots of different dishes. To my knowledge, Veggie Lifestyle was one of the earliest private vegetarian restaurants to arrive in Chengdu (I first noticed it in 2006), and, after trying most of the vegetarian restaurants that have arrived since (and including the older temple restaurants), my vote still goes to Vegetarian Lifestyle for a nice dinner out. (If you're just looking for something quick and inexpensive, though, I'd go for Daci Temple or the southwest Lotus on the Water.)

• • hapatofu
    December 24, 2009
    
  • Chengdu > Peter's Tex Mex

    go for the 18-kuai soft tacos, it's a much better deal than the burritos. still small and deflated, but at least there's two of them. as to their 'authenticity,' well, there's not all that much to be done about that, except requesting a bottle of tabasco and dumping half of it on, if that helps.

• • hapatofu
    July 14, 2009
    
  • Chengdu > Fiesta Thai
    非常泰餐厅

    Often hailed as the city's best Thai food. Unfortunately, the competition isn't what one might call stiff. A meal will set you back around 50 kuai per person (more with drinks), and the food is far from authentic, and also not even that close to what the more critical among us might call "good." Much of it is seems to be catering to Sichuan tastes: over-oiled, overpeppered.

• • hapatofu
    July 14, 2009
    
  • Chengdu > DADAWA
    达达娃咖啡馆

    Nice little spot next to the Hemp House. Hippie/Dali/SW Asia decor, friendly staff. Nice atmosphere for chatting over a cup of tea or coffee (Yunnan Arabica available, I think for 10 kuai bottomless--that was once one of the best coffee deals in town, although these days it's not as exciting). Snacks and light-meal food available as well, most of which are competent.

• • hapatofu
    July 14, 2009
    
  • Chengdu > Casa Mia
    卡萨米亚

    Pretty bad food at inversely high prices, unresponsive wait staff. The only reason to go there might be to find a quiet corner where you can use their free (and, since nobody's using it, relatively fast) WiFi. Well, technically you probably have to buy a 15-kuai cup of coffee, but if you can stretch that out all afternoon it's better than the noisy, everybody-coming-up-to-greet-you WiFi alternatives known as Peter's, Bookworm, and Shamrock.

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