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| Mr. Mao Overlooking Downtown Chengdu |
After checking into our hostel, we spent the first day exploring the city. Chengdu is a giant, urban city with all the conveniences of western culture. New mega-malls, McDonalds & Starbucks were littered throughout the sprawling downtown area. A constant theme throughout our trip, there were buildings being constructed all over the place. The city seemed to be shrouded with a layer of dust & debris from so much construction which didn’t help my allergies. A new underground metro was being built & that will make transportation so much easier. We were stuck with public buses. Despite being stuffy & overcrowded, the buses were frequent & efficient. A huge statue of Chairman Mao towered over the main square & served as a reminder of the country we were in. We explored some parks and walked around the city a bit more, but honestly, we were tired after a long hike and a couple of near sleepless nights on the mountain and the train. We spent a lot of time taking advantage of our hostel’s free DVD collection and lovely outdoor garden.
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| Jinli Ancient Street - A Cool Place to Relax |
The Sichuan province is famous for its spicy food and we definitely sampled some of the traditional cuisine. During our 4 day stay in Chengdu, we tried Mapo Tofu, Sichuan Hot Pot, Kung Pao Chicken & twice cooked pork. More on the food in a later post, but the food in Chengdu really stood out. One night after some of the best wantons we’ve ever had, we strolled through the beautiful Jinli Ancient Street. A busy commercial center since 200 BC, Jinli Street has been hustling & bustling for over 2000 years. Nowadays, ‘new’ ancient traditional buildings line the streets & it was a great place to wind down & people watch for a few hours. Among the traditional shops & restaurants were beautiful gardens & water features lit up by Chinese lanterns.
Most people make a visit to Chengdu just to see the giant pandas. Considered China’s national treasure, they are only found in this region of the country. There are now fewer than 1000 giant pandas of which 80% are within the Sichuan Province. We woke up bright & early and headed out via public bus to the Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center (6 miles away). The goal of this massive facility is to mimic the natural habitat of the giant panda in an effort to breed & increase the population of the endangered species. It is home to 60 giant pandas as well as some red pandas & 20 other species of rare birds.
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| Snuggles |
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| Munching Away |
Thankfully, we arrived early before the tourist crowds & were able to spend some private time with the pandas! They really are beautiful, cute bears & were so active in the morning after their bamboo meals. The facilities were impressive & the pandas had ample room to play & lounge around. We watched two cubs playfully wrestle for a good 20 minutes while the mother joined in on the roughhousing. There were nurseries for baby pandas as well as research laboratories & training centers. Unfortunately, there weren’t any babies when we were there, but we did see pandas of all ages.
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| Don't Wake the Red Panda! |
We checked out the Red Panda exhibit which was interesting. They reminded me a little bit of raccoons due to their long striped tail. We were walking through the exhibit & right in front of us on the path was a red panda taking a nap! We were a bit flustered because we didn’t know if the panda had escaped the exhibit or what. We slowly walked past careful not to agitate it because we read that they can be quite aggressive & bite people. It was an interesting experience for sure. We would never have that up-close & personal interaction at a Western zoo! A couple of hours is all we needed to see it all and by 10AM, the place was packed with tourists. We headed back to the city with our Panda fix satisfied.
One of the main reasons we came to the Sichuan province was to see the Leshan Giant Buddha and on our last day in Chegdu we took a van 75 miles out to the city of Leshan. Built during the Tang Dynasty in 713 AD, the statue is the largest stone Buddha in the world! It was incredible.
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| That's One Big Buddha! |
The Buddha was actually built for protection. Located at the confluence of 3 rivers, the local people often lost ships to the dangerous water currents. They simply chalked the tragedies up to the water spirits. A monk named Hai Tong decided to carve a massive statue right on the river thinking that the Buddha would calm the waters & protect the local people from further suffering. Incidentally, the fallen stones that were deposited into the river during the 90 years of construction actually altered the water force there! The passage became safer for passing ships & the Buddha worked a miracle!
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| Sea of Chinese People |
When it was carved, a 13 story wooden structure covered in Gold was built to protect it from the weather & deterioration. Unfortunately, the structure was destroyed by the invading Mongols and since then, the stone has been exposed to the elements. In addition to the massive size of the seated Buddha, the engineering of the statue is impressive. A sophisticated drainage system was built to reduce weathering after rains and it’s still in working order!
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| Staircase to the River Below |
We marveled at the statue from above before waiting in a huge line to walk down the cliff to the figure’s feet. After one hour in a queue surrounded by hundreds of glaring Chinese people, we were finally able to walk down the steep steps towards water level. It was amazing standing at the Buddha’s feet looking up. We felt like ants. Just to give some perspective, the smallest toenail is large enough to accommodate a seated person and one shoulder is big enough for a regulation basketball court!
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| A Little Perspective |
There were some interesting temples, ancient caves & waterfalls in the complex that we checked out before leaving. We really enjoyed the trip to Leshan and won’t forget the splendor of the massive Buddha.
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