CHENGDU FOR CLIMBERS

WE HAVE RUN TRIPS THROUGH CHENGDU FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS, AND GOING BACK TO THE 1980s EVERY MAIN EXPEDITION TO TIBET HAS STAGED FROM HERE. THE HISTORY OF CLIMBING NORTH OF THE HIMALAYA ADORNS THE HOTELS AND GEAR SHOPS OF CHENGDU, HAVING HOSTED MANY OF THE GREAT ALPINISTS HEADING WESTWARD TO TIBET

AND YET AN AMAZING NUMBER OF EVEN SERIOUS CLIMBERS HAVE NEVER HEARD OF CHENGDU, DESPITE IT BEING A MAJOR CITY OF 16million AND THE HUB OF ONE OF CHINAS MOST POPULOUS AND DYNAMIC REGIONS. FOR CLIMBERS IT CAN FEEL LIKE FLYING INTO SOMEWHERE BEWILDERING AND EXOTIC, SOMEWHERE THAT INSTANTLY PUTS THEM OFF THE MAP. THE REALITY IS, CHENGDU IS ONE OF, IF NOT THE, MOST LIVABLE CITIES IN CHINA, COMBINING AFFLUENCE, HISTORY, COSMOPOLITANISM AND CONNECTIVITY, AND THE BEST ACCESS TO THE HIMALAYAS OF ANY LARGE CITY.

EVEN AFTER 20 YEARS OF INSANE CONSTRUCTION, CHENGDU STILL REVOLVES AROUND TEA HOUSE CULTURE, WITH DOZENS OF PARKS AND WIDE STREETS, PLUS THE FAMOUS MOAT AROUND THE OLD CITY CENTER. THE COMPLETE CONCRETE-IZATION FOUND IN MANY BIG CHINESE CITIES NEVER TOOK HOLD IN CHENGDU, WHERE A TEMPERATE CLIMATE MEANS THINGS STAY GREEN YEAR ROUND AND THE POPULATION ARE NEVER CONFINED INDOORS.

FOR THE CLIMBER, CHENGDU HAS GEAR SHOPS – PROPER ONES – WHERE GENUINE GEAR CAN BE BOUGHT. THE CITY ALSO HAS HUGE INTERNATIONAL SUPERMARKETS AND SUPPLY STORES, INTERNATIONAL BANKS, THOUSANDS OF GOOD CAFES, AND FLIGHTS FROM TWO INTERNATIONAL AIR HUBS THAT THEN CONNECT TO PLACES WAY OUT IN TIBET AND XINJIANG.

THE EDGE OF TIBET IS NOW HALF A DAYS DRIVE FROM DOWNTOWN, SOMETHING THAT TUNNELS AND BRIDGES REDUCED FROM 30hrs WHEN WE FIRST CAME HERE. FOR YEARS CHENGDU WAS CONSIDERED THE OUTDOOR CAPITAL OF CHINA, THE SPRING BOARD TO TIBET AND THE ON THE BACK DOOR ROUTES INTO THE SILK ROAD AREAS. SICHUANESE PEOPLE HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF BEING FRONTEIRS PEOPLE, OFTEN DOING A LOT OF THE WORK FURTHER OUT IN THE REMOTE PROVINCES, TAKING SICHUAN FOOD AND LANGUAGE TO PLACES LIKE THE KARAKORAM HIGHWAY AND BURMA.

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CHENGDU AND TIBET HAVE BEEN RELATED TO EACH OTHER FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS, WHERE OLD TIBETS BORDERS CAME TO WITHIN A DAY FROM THE CITY WALLS, THE CITY BEING RAIZED AND REBUILT SEVERAL TIMES. CHENGDU STILL HAS A LARGE TIBETAN QUARTER AND UNIVERSITIES FOR MINORITIES, AND TRANSPORT OUT TO THE TIBETAN AREAS LEAVING CONSTANTLY.

THIS IS CHINA AT ITS BEST, FAR FROM THE SEETHING COASTAL CITIES AND CENTERS OF POLITICS. THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS FAR AWAY HAS BEEN A PART OF CHENGDUS ATMOSPHERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, AND LIFE GOES ON HERE ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT THINGS, LOOKING TOWARDS A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORLD. FOR MILLENIA CHENGDU HAS TRADED AND OPENED ITS DOORS TO THE REST OF THE WORLD, NOT KNOWING THE PAROCHIALISM SOME CITIES HAVE. THE MARKETS HERE HAVE BEEN THE CROSSROADS BETWEEN SOUTH EAST ASIA, CENTRAL CHINA, TIBET AND THE TEA ROUTES OUT INTO CENTRAL ASIA, SOMETHING STILL NOTICEABLE IN THE ARRAY OF EMBASSIES AND HUGE FOREIGN INVESTMENT.

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SICHUAN ITSELF IS KNOWN THESE DAYS AS A PROSPEROUS PLACE, OVER FLOWING WITH GOOD FOOD, GOOD INFRASTRUCTURE, DIVERSITY OF GEOGRAPHY AND FORWARD LOOKING PEOPLE, AND CHENGDU IS THE MEGA ‘PRIMATE’ CITY THAT SITS AT THE CENTER OF IT. COMPARED TO EVERY OTHER ENTRY POINT CENTER IT IS A WHOLE OTHER PARADIGM.

CHENGDU IS A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL AIR HUB, HOSTING BOTH CHINA SOUTHERN AND SICHUAN AIRLINES AS ITS HOME CARRIER, SHARING TWO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS THAT RANK IN THE TOP FEW BUSIEST IN THE COUNTRY. DOMESTICALLY THE CITY CONNECTS EVERYWHERE ELSE, INCLUDING LHASA AND KASHGAR AS WELL AS THE SMALL AIRPORTS ALL ACROSS THE NORTHERN HIMALAYA. WE ACTUALLY DON’T USE THESE DOMESTIC CONNECTIONS TOO OFTEN (EXCEPT FOR KASHGAR, HOHHOT AND URUMQI), AS THEY TAKE US TO 4000m TOO FAST.

CHENGDU IS NOT THE CHINA YOU IMAGINE FROM THE WHAT THE MEDIA PRESENTS. RELAXED, VAST, SOPHISTICATED AND INTERNATIONAL, FOR 3000 YEARS CHENGDU HAS DONE THINGS ITS OWN WAY. THEY SAY THAT EVERY REVOLUTION HAS STARTED IN SICHUAN, AND THIS INCLUDES THE HIGH ALTITUDE ALPINISM REVOLUTION STARTING IN THE LATE 90s WHERE GUYS LIKE CHARLIE AND MICK FOWLER AND BROUGHT ATTENTION TO PARTS OF THE HIMALAYAS NO ONE PREVIOUS HAD HEARD OF.