Day 12, 11 June 2012 Chengdu city

Its TOYOTA time! Our Hilux is due for her 5000km scheduled maintenance and there is no better time to do it after the tough drive to Chengdu. We were impressed by the high level of customer and technical services provided to us.

The Kendall Motor Oil Super-D XA 15W-40 that we are using served us well without any sign of slowing down. The engine runs very smoothly with little or almost no vibration.

Since our Hilux was in the workshop, our kind hearted guide Mr John Yang offered to ferry us around Chengdu with his family car. First visits was to Chengdu’s Panda conservatory centre.

The panda "black and white cat-foot" also known as the giant panda to distinguish it from the unrelated red panda, is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo. Pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. In captivity they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.

The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in the Shaanxi and Gansuprovinces. As a result of farming, deforestation and other development, the panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.

 The red panda

In the afternoon we went to the Sanxingdui civilization museum. Sanxingdui (Chinese: 三星堆; pinyin: Sānxīngduī; literally "three stars mound") is the name of an archaeological site and its deduced culture in China, now believed to be the site of an ancient Chinese city. The previously unknown Bronze Age culture was re-discovered in 1987 when archaeologists excavated remarkable artifacts, that radiocarbon dating dated as being from the 12th-11th centuries BCE. Leaving behind nothing in the historical record, not even in myth, the unknown culture that produced these artifacts is now known as the Sanxingdui Culture.

The day ended with a courtesy dinner treat by NAVO (our agent in China) Ms Tracy and follow up by authentic Sichuan Mask changing opera show.

Bian Lian (simplified Chinese: 变脸; traditional Chinese: 變臉; pinyin: Biàn Liǎn; literally "Face-Changing") is an ancient Chinese dramatic art that is part of the more general Sichuan opera. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. They also wear vividly colored masks, which they change within a fraction of a second.

Day 11, 10 June 2012 Meigu to Chengdu

Today total distance travelled 392.5km

Meigu in the morning

Finally! A big city! The road condition was pretty bad after we left Meigu with thick and soft mud after the heavy downpour from the night before.

This is our real first off- road test since we left Penang, condition was so bad that we have to go down to low gear on 4WD transmission and we event dented our engine mud guard.


Stopped at Leshan along the way and visited the Giant Buddha. The Leshan Giant Buddha (simplified Chinese: 乐山大佛; traditional Chinese: 樂山大佛; pinyin: Lèshān Dàfó) was built during the Tang Dynasty (618–907AD). It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. It is the largest carved stone Buddha in the world[1] and it is by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world.

Construction was started in 713, led by a Chinese monk named Haitong. He hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessels traveling down the river. When funding for the project was threatened, he is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity. After his death, however, the construction was stuck due to insufficient funding. About 70 years later, a jiedushidecided to sponsor the project and the construction was completed by Haitong's disciples in 803.
Apparently the massive construction resulted in so much stone being removed from the cliff face and deposited into the river below that the currents were indeed altered by the statue, making the waters safe for passing ships.

Next we went into Chengdu city just in time before sunset. Our group split to into two, one went for Chinese dinner and another to Hooters!

Our day ended in Chengdu after a slow walk in downtown after dinner.

Day 10, 09 June 2012 Xicang to Meigu

Today total distance travelled 250km

We set out to Meigu early morning after breakfast in Xicang. This is because one of our main itinerary for today is to visit the village of the minority Yi people.

Early morning carwash at Xicang hotel carpark

The Yi people are an ethnic group in China, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They live primarily in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, usually in mountainous regions. Most Yi are farmers and herders of cattle, sheep and goats. The Yi people are among the poorest minority in the whole of China and we hope to understand the living condition and lifestyle of the children among the Yi community.

The drive to Meigu was fantastic and the weather was foggy in the early part of the journey and our visibility was down to 10meter or less.

During our drive to Yi village, we were lucky because we had the opportunity to visit a local Yi wet market which only happens once in 9days.

 The Yi minority marketplace

 Yi kids around the marketplace

Soon after we left the wet market, we came by a small Yi community along the road and decided to distribute our gifts in this village.

 Kek Fei sharing candies with a Yi boy. 

It didn't take long before all the children in the village came and greet us with curiosity and smile on their faces.

Not too long after we moved on from the Yi village, we came to a scenic spot where all of us decided to stop by for a photo taking session. It was during this time a small group of Yi boys from the highland came by our vehicle. They were not able to understand Mandarin Chinese because schooling is almost impossible for them and all they know is Yi language.

The Yi boys

We arrived Meigu safely at 1700hrs.

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank our sponsors, Kendall Motor Oil and Penang Global Tourism for their kind gifts. Gifts are not measured in monetary value but it is the kind gesture that matters lot.  

 Meigu locals

Meigu town