Overall, I liked Chengdu. There were some issues and problems, but we definitely had some fun as well.
Monday was mostly spent travelling. Sichuan Airlines wasn't too bad. I thought it was interesting that the airline stewards walked in the aisles giving people sweet buns and asking if they wanted chili sauce with their food (of which we got a lot, not just one little chicken wing as we do on China Eastern). I was pleased with how quickly we got through the Chengdu airport--so much easier than Pudong! We registered for a shuttle for the Panda Reserve and had the dinner buffet later that evening. Not bad--a lot of steak, pork, watermelon, salad, brie cheese, and even chocolate fondue.
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| Me in the lobby of the Crown Plaza--note the Panda theme! |
Tuesday we went to the Giant Panda Reserve, which had to be the highlight of the trip for me. We got to see pandas eating bamboo, sitting in trees, wrestling with each other, and even sleeping. Also, we got to see red pandas, and at one point we saw eight pandas in one area at once!! So we had fun while we were actually there. However, we had a terrible time getting back to the hotel. The concierge initially told us to take a taxi back due to the holiday traffic, so we (naively) didn't think this was going to be difficult. But Kerry kept trying to Didi us taxis and no one would come. We finally ran into a cab driver who made us pay 100 RMB to take us back, so we reluctantly agreed. In the evening, we had a nice dinner with Elizabeth and some of her colleagues--an outdoor meal! There was this one dish with "double-cooked pork" and greens that was phenomenal, and another with beans. We avoided most of the Sichuan spices. After dinner, we toured the Kuanzhi Xiangzi (the Wide and Narrow Alley) with Elizabeth, which was mostly a busy shopping district with lots of food and things to buy. They were even selling brains and pig snouts in the street! Unfortunately, the cigarette smoke got to me after awhile; in most of the city areas in China, we have to wear our Vogmasks just to be able to breathe--not necessarily because of pollution, but because smoking is EVERYWHERE. You just can't avoid it.
Pictures from the Panda Reserve:
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| New Year's Eve celebration at the Panda Reserve. |
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| One of the first pandas I saw! |
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| This panda liked to walk around a lot. |
Wednesday Kerry wasn't feeling too well, so we spent the first part of the day just resting in the room. Later in the day, when I was more rested, we ate at a Chinese restaurant in the hotel (goose, pork ribs, veggies, and mashed potatoes). The manager was very nice to us and spoke English very well. Around 4 pm, we did get out and went to the Wenshu Yan monastery and temple, which included a vegetarian tea garden with people playing folk music. The buildings, temple, and gardens were lovely. It was really beautiful: a nice part of old China in the city. I bought a cute little New Year's Dog (red, of course) from a street vendor for only 15 RMB (about $2). Not bad! We had dinner at the hotel: there were some folks from the Phillipines singing American songs from the 70s, such as Captain and Tenille and the Carpenters. Amusing!
Pics from the stunningly beautiful Manjushri Hall at the monastery:
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| Manjushri Hall |
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| Detail from the hall. A guard animal! |
The last full day we were there we went to the Leshan Buddha, the largest Mayietra Buddha statue in the world. We had to leave (in a private car, which we had to pay extra for) with our guide, Terry, at 7:10 am!! Terry was a very short 28-year-old young man who was very knowledgeable about China and its culture. Overall, he was a good guide. He showed as a lot of treasures at the Leshan Buddha area, and made sure that there weren't too many spices in the lunch that was ordered for us (double-cooked pork, kung po chicken, green veggies, and rice). As with the Wenshu area, lots of beauty here: statues, a temple, and of course the huge Buddha. However, it took 2.5 hours to get there and another 2.5 hours back, and we couldn't do the boat ride we wanted. We wanted to ride on a slower beat to see the entire statue, but once we were in line we were told that "the water was too low," so if we wanted to see the whole statue, we had to go in a speedboat. So we did! We climbed into a speedboat, each given a useless orange life jacket, and given a speedboat ride out to the statue. We were allowed to take pictures for five minutes, and then the driver took us back. So that was a bit disappointing. And the crowds were crazy: people we waiting in 7-8 hour lines to walk down to see the Buddha more close up! I just don't have that kind of patience, but I'm told that Chinese are used to lines. The biggest issue I had is that we had to pay $400 for this trip, and we only saw the entire Leshan Buddha for all of five minutes.
Pics from the Leshan Buddha trip:
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| Me with a tiger statue, on the way to the Buddha |
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| Close-up of the Leshan Buddha. |
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| Scary temple statue. |
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| View of the Leshan Buddha, from speedboat. |
I think I'd like to return to Chengdu, but next time I went to go to the Dujiangyan area, where there's another Panda Reserve where they let you hold the pandas. We probably should have done that on Wednesday instead of the Leshan Buddha. But, as my mom used to say, "Hindsight is 20/20."
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