Hello everyone,
For those who read my thread earlier in this forum, I now have been to Chengdu and back. It was my first time visiting any part of Mainland China and what an interesting (and very different) place it was to visit this city in the heart of China and centre of Sichuan culture.
I was not as nervous as I thought I would be when on the way to Chengdu. Being on a redeye flight and never being able to sleep well on a plane, the only thing I could think of at the time was getting a good night's rest and wishing I was in a comfortable bed. It was only when I arrived at Chengdu airport after 12 hours of commuting, waiting for what felt like an eternity going through Chinese Immigration and then baggage collection and knowing that Cherry (I'll use her English name rather than Chinese name for privacy reasons) was on the other side waiting for me, my heart started to race. The nervousness started to hit, thinking what would happen next, if she didn't like me, or vice-versa or if there was something else that could go wrong.
After collecting my baggage, I walked into airport arrivals and we recognised each other straight away. There she was waving happily and greeted me with a bunch of flowers. We walked to her car and seemed to hit it off straight away as if we had known each other for years. Her normal job is a tour group leader, so she is very confident and outgoing and speaks excellent English, which made getting to know each other a lot easier.
My first impression of Chengdu was how big this place is. The city is a colossus and makes cities like Sydney and Kuala Lumpur seem miniscule in comparision. The roads and pavements are wide and there are high rise apartments everywhere. I was amazed by the scale of development in Chengdu. I could see new high rise apartments under construction for as far as the eye can see, 40 apartment blocks under construction at the same time in one area. This is a boom town on steroids and I have never seen so much construction in one place at the same time before anywhere in the world.
I won't go into too much detail about what I did on my trip. Cherry really looked after me and took me to many of the main tourist sites. She went out of my way to ensure I had a good time in Chengdu and I really appreciate everything she did for me. I met all of her family and friends. It was also my birthday when I was there and she arranged a surprise party for me at a KTV joint. I tried all the local Sichuan cuisine. It seemed she was the only person in the whole of Chengdu who could speak any English but I got on well with all of her family and friends. I know a little bit of Mandarin Chinese, not enough to have a conversation, but enough to make some jokes and observations. Cherry also taught me a few words of Sichuan Mandarin which helped endear me with her family/friends.
If any of you read my previous thread, I mentioned that I was not exactly sure of what I was going to see Cherry for, whether friendship or a relationship. We never really discussed this before my trip. Unfortunately, by the end of this trip I am still none the wiser. I have been getting mixed signals and still do not know where I stand (we haven't done anything "physical" by the way). I tried to get her to verbalise what she was expecting from me, but her message was unclear. She said we should keep in contact and I can come back and see her again. And that I should also phone her parents on public holidays, etc. I jokingly said in Chinese to one of her aunties that I didn't want to go home, and she said I should move to Chengdu and be a "son in law". Another auntie said I was family. So maybe the family like me, but Cherry herself wants to take things slowly, or that was her way of letting me down gently.
Either way, I will keep in contact with Cherry and see where things lead. I still have doubts whether things would work in a long distance relationship, so do not mind too much which direction things go. I am happy because the friendship I have made is a priceless one, she is a lovely and kind person. I now know what others here have wrote about Mainland Chinese women is true and why so many members want to go through the pain of a long distance relationship because of the great reward at the end.
Overall, I had a good trip. I visited a city different from anywhere else I'd been to, had a local take me to places that a tourist would not see, met many lovely people and made new friends, and learned a lot about local Sichuan culture, and have no regrets about making this trip.
