Exploring China - Chengdu and the Pandas

Driving from the airport into Chengdu, we were told it was a small city. As we approached it, I’m thinking this is huge, with hundreds of modern skyscrapers! Small is apparently a relative term....as Chinese consider Chengdu's 11 million resident population to be “small.”   We will need to re-evaluate our terminology for measurement here!

Seeking:  Intelligent, hard-working Female........

First stop was People’s Park- Chengdu’s equivalent of Central Park. Gardens, lakes, boating, etc. but most interesting was the “matchmaking area.” Here, individual parents or “matchmaking agents” post signs along the walkways with both milling about negotiating potential matches. No pictures were allowed to ensure that a person be judged based on their attributes, and not appearance. A low-tech internet dating service of sorts. What is different in this case is that it is the parents (or a matchmaking agent hired by the parents to do the search), are usually doing this without the knowledge OR consent of their son or daughter! Talk about “helicopter parenting!”  The other notable element of People’s Park were the individually sectioned areas where there were simultaneous events occurring.  Cultural dance performances, singers, musicians, or participatory dancing- from Tai Chi, Zumba, and couples doing the Cha Cha Cha and ballroom dancing. The majority of people within the park and participating in the activities were senior citizens.  Our guide, Simon, explained that these activities were sponsored by and paid for by the government to encourage the elderly to get out, socialize, and keep active. There was also a large tea house garden, where hundreds of people gathered to partake in tea and chat or play Mahjong.

People's Park monument

dancing in the park

Bonsai Garden in People's Park

Other Chengdu sights included Wenshu Temple, a working monastery from the Tang and Qing Dynasties, and Kuanzhai Alley (translates as "wide and narrow alleys").  This is one of the original streets in Chengdu from a previous dynasty, restored with modern artisan shops and ancient courtyards nestled between and amongst the shops and restaurants.

Kuanzhai Alley

Offerings in alley temple

Musician in a shop

Wenshu Temple

Kuanzhai Alley interior garden

Even Starbucks worked into the Kuanzhai Street design

The Giant Buddha of Leshan- We also ventured out of Chengdu about two hours to visit Leshan, to see and climb the giant 71 meter high Buddha, carved within the sandstone cliffs overlooking the intersection of three major rivers. It was originally carved hundred of years ago as a protectorate of the people from river flooding. We then hiked from there several kilometers to Wuyou Temple and Monastery on an adjoining mountain to enjoy the peacefulness of the temple and gardens.

  

stairs up to the Buddha		had to climb up to top, then climb down to bottom....

Hiking toward Wuyou Monastery

Entrance to Monastery

View from Monastery Pagoda

Of course, the highlight of our visit was our time at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Cente,r where we saw about 50 different pandas from young, playful cubs to mature, solitary bears. Young pandas are quite social and playful creatures, but at around five years old, they become solitary and territorial.  This is in their nature, given the quantity of bamboo they consume and the availability of bamboo in the wild. Although they are well fed at the center, they maintain their natural habits and characteristics as many are eventually released back into the wild. They were mesmerizing to watch and it was difficult to leave the park.

More Panda Cuteness.......

Having some fun with the other guests!

Pandas spend most of their waking hours eating	Baby Panda	More Baby Pandas
Red Panda (actually in the Racoon Family)	Gardens at the Panda Breeding Center	Black Swans in the Gardens

From Chengdu, we boarded our first bullet train to Xi'an. The railway network we observed along the way (totally grade separated) was nothing short of amazing. Shame on you America, for the poor transportation infrastructure and lack of vision in what a first-class rail network can provide. Instead, we talk about building a wall.....

Fast, comfortable, clean bullet train......did I say fast???

Our bullet train coming to Xi'an

Exploring China - Guilin and Yangshuo

Along the Li River

It took a great deal of effort to get us here (check out Hanoi blog to read the details) and stepping off the plane to this once closed-off country, we didn’t know what to expect. 


We arrived in Guilin, an absolutely lovely city with a modern, high rise area and an historical/cultural area set among four interconnected lakes and two rivers. Our hotel, once a tea museum, was set along one of the lakes and was absolutely stunning. The lakes are lined with lush, traditional landscaping, “floating” pagodas, bridges, public spaces for nightly dancing and Tai Chi, and pagodas for musical gatherings. At night, the entire lake area was illuminated to show-off the natural beauty. We took a tour of a local art gallery, participated in a tea tasting ceremony, and joined in a evening tour of the sights around the lake area.



Just some of the scenery day/night walking around the interconnected lakes - 

"floating" pagoda	a waterfall runs down the facade of this hotel at 9 pm daily - only one like this is the world!	stone carving at pagoda

view from our hotel room

Evening Tai Chi for the locals

beautifully lit pagodas

Next morning we set off for Yangshuo via boat along the scenic Li River, which runs in a valley through the karst mountain formations.  This local has inspired Chinese artists throughout time and is even illustrated on the Chinese 20 Yuen banknote. 
 

See the actual location below!

                                                                                  Beautiful Scenery!                                                              


Arriving in Yangshuo (larger than expected, more of a city than the village I imagined), we walked briefly through the famous West Street, a lively pedestrian street lined with shops, restaurants, and bars.  We then headed out of the town to visit the Silver Cave- a beautifully illuminated cave within one of the karst formations.

After the cave, it was off to the Guest House set in Xiatang Village, just outside of Yangshuo.  The inn was a traditional tea house style building with very modern finishes and a balcony with a million dollar view. All food prepared was organic, grown in local gardens by their chefs. We were invited one evening into the kitchen to help the staff make homemade dumplings. Not easy! I made two dumplings to their five.......

Guest House Gardens

Our Stunning Room!

Million dollar view from our guest house balcony!

During our stay in Xiatang Village, we spent time riding bicycles along the Yulong River with our wonderful guide, Sonny.  It was clear that the government spent a great deal of money in designing and constructing a series of multi-use pathways along the river. It certainly gave new meaning to the term “multi-use” with hikers, bicycles, motor scooters, farmers (there were agricultural fields along one side of the path), cows, and water buffaloes! There were several bridges with stairs along the path- clearly someone didn’t think it through in the design phase...

Yulong River...scenes while rafting	continued rafting	one of the many waterfalls we rafted over
our view on the raft	our rower	resting pagoda on the multi-use path along river
just beautiful scenery!	old water wheel along river	yes, a multi-use path for bikes with steps....a minor design flaw!

maybe this sign cautioned about stairs ahead?

new meaning to multi-use path!

legs up.......

We also rode a simple bamboo raft to experience the Yulong River, where we drifted along with a rower using a bamboo rod to guide us over a series of small waterfalls (lifting our legs up at each, as the water comes right up through the bamboo bottom).

The highlight of our stay (as if the scenery wasn’t enough) was the Impression Liu Sanjie Night Show, performed on the Li River with the karst mountains as a backdrop. This show was created and produced by the same artist behind The Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony and was every bit as spectacular. Over 600 people perform in this amazing show, with the surrounding mountains illuminated as part of the show. Words cannot describe, and pictures do not do it justice.

Thus far, this would rank near the top of our favorite places we visited!

So, here's the plan for our adventure in China...

Hong Kong - Short But Sweet

Wow!  Breathtaking skyline, ultra modern skyscrapers, vertical living, crowded, shopping mecca, efficient mass transport system......welcome to Hong Kong!

So, arrived at the airport and of course looked for an ATM to pick up some local currency to take public transport downtown to our hotel.  Well, although we notified our bank as to our would-be locations, we were denied cash.  Called the international number but realized with the time zones, it was the middle of the night in the States so we would have to wait several hours untill we could get our fraud alert cleared and our account opened again.  Soooo, we called for an Uber and got an amazing driver.  We told him what had happened and as we drove to our hotel, he gave us a quick sightseeing tour of the city, explained which neighborhoods were not safe and to avoid, and as we arrived at our hotel, he handed us some local money (equivalent to about US $10) until we could resolve our banking dilemma.  Hungry, we ate (for the first and only time on our trip) at a McDonald's near our hotel since they accepted credit cards.  By the way, we sent in our Uber review (5 stars!) of the driver and tipped him back the money he gave us!  A few hours later, we were able to withdraw cash from a nearby ATM!

Hong Kong was to be a gateway for us into China, and in particular, Guilin, since it was not an easy destination to get to from Vietnam.  However, if we were already here, might as well stay a few days and explore this world-class city.  We also kept in touch with Daniel and Ami, a lovely couple living in Hong Kong that we met in our cooking class in Chiang Mai, Thailand, who asked us to reach out if we were ever to visit.

View from Victoria Peak

After a late start (sleeping in is just sometimes necessary!) we headed out for brunch at a nearby French cafe and met James, a local businessman on his lunch hour.  We spent the next hour and a half discussing politics, global finance, local real estate (can you believe it costs $400,000 US to purchase a permanent parking space in Hong Kong!), and sights to take in during our visit.  He then walked us through the Avenue of the Stars (statues of famous Asian movie stars) on his way back to work and towards the ferry for us.  We then boarded the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island, rode a local bus through lovely and clearly very expensive residential neighborhoods up to Victoria Peak.  We hiked a few kilometers around the peak, and went up to the observation tower

(which is at the top of a multi-story shopping mall on the peak) to view the skyline at dusk.   We traveled the historic tram down the mountain, and walked again through several more high-end shopping malls on way back to ferry.  Notice a theme here????

Next day we met up with Daniel and Ami (four months pregnant- congrats!) for brunch at a very local, Michelin-ranked dim sum restaurant in one of the neighborhoods just outside the central business district of Hong Kong.  Best dim sum ever!  We then headed over to Hong Kong Island to a trendy new area for coffee at one of the local cafes, met up with Daniel’s brother, through more shopping malls, and then ramen at a local Japanese noodle shop.  After a wonderful day together, we parted ways hoping to meet up with them again in the future on our side of the world and headed to board our evening Harbour Cruise to view the Hong Kong skyline and laser light show.  

It was a fitting way to say farewell to this bustling metropolis.....

Evening Cruise on Victoria Harbour

Cheers!  

Yes, a double-decker light rail trolley!

Nathan on Nathan