Strolling and Snacking—Chengdu Travel Diary—3

Beijing in June is just way too hot. The heat hasn’t even peaked yet, but I already feel like I can barely take it. Still, sometimes a breeze picks up in the afternoon, which is pretty lovely, and the clouds are beautiful too.

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  Picking up where I left off last time, after a round of spicy food, we started trying some other things. Our first stop today was Wenshu Monastery—yep, the one with “World Peace, Happiness for Humanity” written on it. As soon as we spotted those words, we noticed loads of people posing for photos with them. The line for the character meaning “happiness” was even long enough to bend around a corner 😱😱. We, of course, made a beeline for Zhang Lao’er Liangfen to get the sweet water noodles we’d been dreaming about. Honestly, the noodles really were good, but the dining setup was hard to describe. Okay, there wasn’t really a dining setup to speak of 😳.

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It’s worth trying, but I’d recommend the other Zhang Lao’er inside Wenshu Monastery instead. Personally, I thought the food tasted pretty much the same, and most importantly, the setting was so, so much better than at the place by the entrance. I really don’t think there’s any need to squeeze into the one at the entrance—it puts such a damper on the meal. You can head straight to the one inside for sweet water noodles; they’re really good too.

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Another recommendation: the mung bean slush at the Daoxiangcun shop in Wenshu Monastery. It’s ridiculously good—just look at this scene and you’ll get it. The ingredient list is really simple, and it’s affordable too: it works out to three yuan a cup 🦄🦄🦄.

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  Turn left as you leave Wenshu Monastery and there’s a Yan Laotai Guokui, which is also really good, though you’ll have to queue for a bit. You can’t go wrong ordering one with meat added—sliced pork ears, pork snout, and so on. There’s such a great mix of textures, and the flatbreads are all freshly baked, flaky and crisp. Paired with the chili oil on the fillings, they’re so damn good. If I hadn’t eaten already, I could demolish three in one sitting 🙈🙈🙈. There’s also a place nearby called Cesuo Chuanchuan, literally “Toilet Skewers”—what a name 😂😂😂.

  Finally, we wandered around the produce market and found a little kitty reigning over a whole kingdom of melons 🦄🦄🦄.

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