August 18, 2007
My small group of colleagues and I flew from Xi’an to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province and one of the most populated cities in China. Chengdu was another hazy smog-covered city with many huge factories and heavy traffic on all the roads. The lobby of the hotel:
The hotel was part of a line of commercial buildings with offices, shopping mall, restaurants, etc.
This was the view outside my window behind the hotel:
The region is known as the “Country of Heaven” and the “Land of Abundance” and has been inhabited for 4,000 years. Chengdu is recognized by UNESCO as a city of gastronomy and is also known for the giant pandas which live in Sichuan province.
Below is a photo of the shopping mall attached to the hotel. Our guide took us to a wonderful restaurant within the complex to sample Sichuan cooking which was very spicy but delicious!
We drove out to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding which was created for conservation and protection of the pandas.
The reserve was divided into special areas by age of the pandas. Newborn babies were nursed by attendants indoors.
Adult pandas had large areas which simulated their natural habitat.
Juvenile pandas played and enjoyed large outdoor spaces:
We strolled through a park near the panda preserve and saw many people playing games.
Later in the afternoon, we visited the Du Fu Thatched Cottage, a national heritage site, which is a park and museum built in honor of the Tang dynasty poet.
Du Fu lived from 712-770 and is considered to be one of the greatest Chinese poets. He lived in a simple thatched cottage near Chengdu for four years and wrote 240 poems during that time.
It was a lovely peaceful park with beautiful grounds and lovely reconstructed buildings. A young musician provided delightful traditional music to make a perfect afternoon’s visit.
