Bicycle Food Tour Through Chengdu

Taking the new bike on a maiden voyage. First stop, the Technology and Science Enterprising Centre

Chengdu, Sichuan, CHINA — One topic of conversation that surfaces frequently while hanging out with other backpackers is how much the travel scene has changed. Many travelers staying in hostels, pack their laptops and after a day of sightseeing they search the lobbies and cafes for electric outlets to plug in and upload their tales. One such scene can be found throughout the day in my hostel as I do my best to update my blog whenever not living a story.

Yesterday, the owner of Chengdu Mix Hostel, “Mix,” found Adeline and I at our laptops taking advantage of freed up bandwidth while other tenants were out sightseeing. He explained he needed to buy three bikes from Decathlon and needed two other people to help him ride the bikes back to the hostel. He suggested that we stretch our legs from sitting all day and baited us with IKEA hot dogs, milk tea and soft serves. I readily accepted as it was a great idea alone to bike through the city with a local! Adeline paid a visit to her sister living in the city, so hostel employee Ray completed our trio.

After picking up the bikes, Mix wanted to show me the original “Bird’s Nest” predating the renown Beijing Olympic Stadium by a few years. The Technology and Science Enterprising Centre predates Beijing’s Olympic Stadium by one year, in 2007.

Shanti, Mix, and Ray, Tianfu Square (Chengdu, CHINA)

We rode our bikes north on Rénmín Nánlù (人民南路) towards Tianfu Square, where poised before the square stands one of a few remaining Mao Zedong statues in China.

One of few remaining Mao Zedong statues towers over Tianfu Square in Chengdu, CHINA

When I agreed to help ride the new bikes from the store to the hostel, I was baited with less than what was yet to come. Mix, toured our bikes through central Chengdu then brought me to a small noodle shop, close to his heart.

Water from boiling noodles

Brought first to the table was a bowl of cloudy water, from the pot boiling the noodles. Mix explains that noodles are acidic in our stomach. Chinese people drink water used to boil the noodles because of its alkaline properties counteracting the noodles’ acidity.

Fěnzhēngròu (粉蒸肉, Steamed Rice Coated Pork Spareribs)

Fěnzhēngròu (粉蒸肉, Steamed Rice Coated Pork Spareribs) came to the table in an open steam basket and I recollected having this dish in Taipei with my mother in-law. I told this to Mix and he mentioned many Sichuan people migrated to Taiwan over the past five decades. What followed Fěnzhēngròu was a series of noodle bowls. I thought to myself, “What a great way to sample some of the many flavors in Chengdu — in rice-bowl sized portions!”

Niúròu duō wèi miàn (牛肉多味面, Multi-Flavor Beef Noodles)

Guài wèi miàn (怪味面, Strange-flavored Noodles)

Hǎiwèi miàn (海味面, Seafood Flavored Noodles) with pieces of pork and miniature mussels

Street vendor making Dàn hōng gāo (蛋烘糕)

The taste exploration didn’t stop with the noodles. We rode our bicycles into another neighborhood where Mix suddenly made a sharp u-turn and shouted, “Now there’s something special!”

Making 蛋烘糕, dàn hōng gāo

Just like mini crêpes, the lady had a variety of fillings spicy, savory, and sweet. We opted for dessert and Mix ordered dàn hōng gāo (蛋烘糕) filled with peanut butter and black sesame seed-sprinkled sugar crystals.

Mix sharing childhood snack, dàn hōng gāo (蛋烘糕) with Shanti

“This makes me feel the same as when I was a kid!” Mix says just before biting into his dàn hōng gāo. I think to myself, “Why let something this good slip into the past? I could learn how to make this and indulge in a childhood memory often.” Honestly, there is something divine about the taste and texture of peanut butter mixed with black sesame.

A quick shot with the dàn hōng gāo (蛋烘糕) expert, and off to another treat

Well, now I was full. Full in my stomach and a heart filled with gratitude for the day, the food, the Mix bicycle food tour, and the luck to experience it all. Just when I couldn’t try another morsel, Mix spots another rare snack…

Yè ěr bā (叶耳粑, Glutinous rice and Ai Hao mixture steamed in corn husks)

A couple stands on the corner with a cart of steaming Yè ěr bā (叶耳粑). They look like Tamales, but these corn husks are filled with steamed glutinous rice flour mixed with Ài cǎo (艾草), an ever increasingly rare to find vegetable in Sichuan. I’d have opted for a sweet-filled Yè ěr bā, but only meat-filled ones were left. Never knowing when the next opportunity for a Yè ěr bā would be, I returned my taste buds to the savory and relished the chewy street snack.

The cold found its way through our skin and was making its way towards worse if we didn’t hurry back to the hostel. Mix led us through Wenshu Temple down a snack alley and past tea shops. We had taken the new hostel bicycles for a tasty maiden voyage. There really is no other way to see a city other than to make friends with the locals. The gifts exchanged between new friends from different origins never need a lot of money or a common background, just a yen for adventure and an appetite ready to feast.

• Tweet
• "&title=""">