Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25059
CHINa SMOKES ITS WAY INTO THE WORLD OF ADVENTURE RACING WITH THE MILD SEVEN OUTDOO and smoke from farmers burning their old crops. Stay at the Crown Plaza, where the Times Square-size neon Polaroid billboard across the street shines through the soup like a prop from Blade Runner. If it keeps you up, breakfast service begins at 4AM. Finally, take China Southwest Airlines to Xichang. The Chinese space program resides here. Old satellites decorate the town square. Rockets are launched at 2AM, On "your wa� to Xichang, in Sichuan Province, slowly immerse yourself in China. Go first to Beijing where the goose-stepping color guard with a chrome-plated AK-47 raises the flag over Tiananmen Square at sunrise. Mao's Tomb opens every day at 8:30. Then fly to Chengdu, a city shrouded in fog haunches and fish for carp. many So why go to Xichang? Because it is gorgeous in eigners are in town-which wasn't a problem until two years ago because Sichuan didn't allow visitors anyway. And while the city is now official ly "open," and foreigners can fly into town any time, don't be surprised if the occasional plain clothes policeman tails you. The best hotels are along Lake Oiong Hai where old women rise at dawn for tai chi and fishermen sit on their but rarely when for the ways, especially from the temple atop Mount Lu, see one next to the transmitter tower. From there you can and beyond Xichang, toward Mali, where the air is clear Tranquil River runs pure and fast. Or, if you are an adven ture racer, you might go for the Mild Seven Outdoor Ouest (MSOO). terraced mountains angle towards Laos and the - - - - -- - ,---- -