Sichuan – The Kinetic Canuck

Langmusi: Sichuan

Our first full day in Langmusi was spent on the Sichuan side of the border. The temperature was cool, and we were all keen to do some hiking.

We spent our first night just walking around and soaking it all in.

On both the Gansu and Sichuan sides of the town, there are Buddhist temples to visit, so that was our first stop. Unlike most of the other temples we’ve seen, the roofs on some of the buildings on the Sichuan side were silver, rather than the typical gold.

From far, the silver looked great, but up choose it looked old and worn down

The Sichuan side temple was a bit older than the Gansu Temple that we saw the next day, but it was still beatiful all the same. We took a quick look around and then headed on our way up the trail. The trail itself is hard to miss. It begins if you keep going past the temple.

The whole entrance is very pretty. There is a pond there, and you don’t need to walk very long before you see the statue of the Tiger and a prayer flag structure.

One of my favourite things about this hike was that it was an actual hike. So often, in China, hiking is really just climbing a lot of man-made stairs. Here though, you had to make your way up some slippery rocks, and struggle with weeds and mud at times too. I don’t think any of us really minded. It was just so nice to be out in nature!

There were a few people climbing in heals. They didn’t last very long on the trail.

Because this is an actual hike, you should be sure to bring lots of water, and also sunscreen. Although the air is cool up in the mountains (in Langmusi, you are 3400 meters above sea level), the sun can still burn you quite easily, and you’ll want lots of water for the hike. We only encountered 1 person selling water in the entire 5 hours we spent hiking!

This area is called “The Yurt” on Map Me. A woman hangs out and sells hikers bottled water and watermelon.

One of the horses and Locals taking a much deserved break!

The higher up we went, the more breaks we all needed. At one point, a few of the guys went ahead, and Elizabeth, Andy and I decided to make ourselves comfortable and just enjoy the view.

When the guys returned with news that they had located the source of the creek we’d been following, Elizabeth and I decided to go and check it out as well. The water was coming out of the mountain, and was so beautifully cool and clear. Dave and the guys had run into some Monks up there, and they encouraged them to try drinking the water because it’s good for the soul. Dave was eager to try. I took a sip and hoped for the best!

Dave made monk friends who were very excited to know that he is familiar with Buddhism. Really friendly guys!!

Ovearall, I would say that the Sichuan side is best if you like to be far away from people, and surrounded by beauty. After we left the area dubbed ‘The Yurt’, where we had stocked up on water, we didn’t see anyone other than those 3 monks again until we were back at the yurt again. It was beautifully quiet and remote, and I know that personally, it’s exactly what I needed after days of travelling, preceeded by a very busy end of term.

Gorgeous wild flowers along the whole trail.

Next up, I will be posting my last article about our time in the Amdo Region of The Tibetan Plateau. The Gansu side of Langmusi was also very beautiful, but there was an added cultural element that made our day very interesting! Stay tuned to learn about Sky Burials and to see my photos of the last Tibetan Buddist Temple we saw on our trip!

Langmusi

Langmusi, known as Taktsang Lhamo in Tibetan, is a cool little town that sits on the Sichuan and Gansu boarder. With horse trekking, hiking, buddhist temples, and other cultural experiences to enjoy, Langmusi is a perfect tourist destination.

We did see other foreigners there, but most of the tourists in Langmusi are Chinese. Many of the hotels in this tourism town don’t actually take foreigners (especially since COVID 19 became a factor). Our hotel wasn’t the best we’ve stayed in, but the owners were nice and it was situated right in the middle of the town, so it as ok. It got better when we switched rooms so that we weren’t over the street, where we heard honking and screaming children as late as 11:30 at night.

Our first room was VERY purple, a bit smelly and had a hard bed. Our second room was less purple, not smelly and had 2 beds that were even harder.

If you’re considering going to Langmusi, be sure to set your expectations right. Your hotel room is going to have a hard bed, and there won’t be a proper shower… just a shower head in the middle of the bathroom. There aren’t many western options for food, and most of the restaurants are small and family run. If you go there expecting this, you’ll have a fabulous time. If you go there expecting to get coffee at Starbucks and to have dinner at McDonalds though…you will be disappointed.

You won’t be disappointed if you go to Langmusi expecting to see beautiful landscapes though!

Or if you want to meet super friendly locals!

Langmusi’s population is only around 4,000 people, and are mostly Tibetan. You’ll find lots of Yak Meat in the town, and restaurants that have recordings listing the various forms of Yak Yogurt they sell. There are also plenty of beautiful souvenirs for sale, including shawls and plenty of options for jewelery. There’s also plenty of hiking gear for sale in town, as I imagine many people don’t expect it to be so cold (they have boots and coats for sale) or for the trails to be so rough. In regular China, climbing a mountain means walking up stairs. In Langmusi, you are actually making your way up slopes and using rocks for grip. It’s great, but I think a lot of people show up here unprepared.

The town of Langmusi was beautiful. It’s surrounded by hills and a beautiful little river runs through. The town is small, really only 2 roads, but you’ll often see horses walking down the street, beside the cars and tour buses. There are plenty of shops that stay up quite late (you can still get water at 11pm, which is unusual for such a small place).

As a border town, 2 full days in Langmusi is appropriate, so that you can spend a day seeing each side. If I were to very simply explain the difference between the two, I’d say that the Sichuan side has more natural beauty, whereas the Gansu side is more strong culturally. Both have plenty to offer tourists though, and I am very happy we had time for both!

When we arrived, I expected to be able to put all of Langmusi in 1 post, but now I’ve decided it should be divided into 3! Stay tuned for my posts about the Sichuan and Gansu portion of the town!

2020: Vacation & Virus

2020 has been a very hard year for everyone… But I think expats have had unique challenges that people back home don’t really realize. I have friends who are separated from their spouses and kids, because boarders closed when they were apart. I know people who have lost their jobs and their homes because they didn’t get home in time. Thousands of pets have been abandoned or left behind this year, because it’s simply too expensive to fly them anywhere. And of course, this is on top of the stress that everyone is already under, as this pandemic changes the way the world works, and the way we travel.

I wouldn’t dream of abandoning our furry crew, which is why we are sitting tight and waiting for the worst of it to pass.

Dave and I have been lucky, but even we have been affected. I won’t see my family and friends for 2 years because of this virus. Traveling home this summer was impossible, because if we leave, it is exceptionally hard to get back into China. Even if the boarders had re-opened over the summer, we couldn’t have risked it, because they could close again at any time.

When Poe developed an infection in her intestine while we were stuck in Malaysia, it was an awful feeling. Knowing we couldn’t get to her was not a situation I want to repeat.

Luckily, China is one of the safest places to be right now. Closing the boarders, requiring masks in public spaces, major disinfecting routines and frequent testing have all made a huge difference in controlling the pandemic. Rules have been put into place, and people follow the rules. That’s why our second wave has been minimal (so far).

China has worked with The World Health Organization and followed guidelines for preventing the spread of the virus.

Of course, taking things seriously can make for some hoop jumping on holiday. So many hoops, in fact, that plenty of people chose not to travel at all. I knew that if I just sat at home, I was gonna get pretty depressed, so Dave and I took plenty of safety measures, chose areas of China that had been COVID-free for some time, and we planned a 2 week trip. Here’s what that looked like for us…

I love that her mask says ‘face shield’ in English

Part 1: Nucleic Acid Tests

We decided to get the tests done before leaving on holiday. It isn’t a requirement to travel, but can facilitate things, so we figured it was wise. Also, if we were going to travel, we wanted to be sure we weren’t carriers. As a responsible person… You have to make sure you aren’t putting others at risk, after all.

We opted for the throat swab instead of the blood tests (blood tests can tell you if you ever had the virus in the first place, and we’re fairly sure we haven’t). There was a huge line up when we arrived, but when we asked which line we should go to, we were taken out back to a bus that had been turned into a testing site. Sounds sketchy, I know, but it was all very sanitary and well organized.

The following day, we had our negative results. We were sure to take photos of them, as well as to take our physical copies on the trip. It’s always a good idea to carry photos of your passport, visa, last entry stamp and other important documents, either on your phone or in a USB. That way, if your passport goes missing, you have some sort of ID.

The process was simple and painless. It only cost about $20 CAD, and was very quick. Unfortunately, these tests are only considered valid for about a week, so they didn’t help much. Still, I was happy to have them.

Part 2: Masks

We don’t typically have our masks on over our faces if we’re outdoors, but we always had them with us.

Like it or not, masks are a part of the world’s new reality… But in Asia, they’ve actually been a reality for a long time. I read one conspiracy theory that said Instagram came out with mask filters 2 years before COVID, and the author of the meme stated that this is proof that the virus was planned. In reality…people in Asia wear masks for a variety of reasons. Air pollution, road dust and illness are all reasons people wear masks here, and I had all 3 types of masks in my apartment long before the virus came out. Now, of course, more people are wearing them more often… But they aren’t by any means a new concept here.

I really do hate wearing mine. They make my face sweaty and I often complain about wearing one. It’s not fun. But my comfort isn’t the only thing that matters (I put it right back up after the photo, because we were inside a busy building).

Part 3: Health Codes

These codes ran our lives while we were on the road. Pro-tip for anyone traveling in China right now: bring a battery pack!!! If you can’t access your health code… You’re not getting in anywhere!!

In total, we downloaded 4 or 5 different health codes on our trip (I lost track). There was a different code for each province (it hasn’t been standardized nationally yet), and there were a couple of codes to show which areas you’ve been in over the last 2 weeks. Under the arrow on my code, you can see where I was for the last 14 days. Because every place I went to was ‘green’ (COVID-free), my own code is green. If I went anywhere where there was an outbreak in the last 14 days though… That code would be yellow or red, and I would have to stop my travels and get checked into a quarantine hotel.

Don’t worry, at every train station, airport and tourist site, they have posters up with the QR you scan to get the code. It’s impossible to miss, because there are always people standing in front of the signs, filling in their info

Like this!! The codes use your cell phone number to track where you’ve been. It seems creepy… But this is all happening anyway. Who needs microchips when everyone is walking around with portable tracking devices that they use willingly??? (Between selfies and privacy, selfies will always win!)

Part 4: Entry Forms

Wherever we went, we had to fill in forms with all sorts of information about our travel history and contact info. Some of the forms were pretty long and even required our visa numbers and job info. Most of them just wanted our: Names, phone numbers, passport numbers, hotel info and, of course, the date of our last entrance into China.

We had to enter this one just to enter Mount Emei. It was a bit excessive

Most places just had security guards doing this and almost none of them spoke English. If I had known all this ahead of time, I would have written out a little form with all my info in Chinese ahead of time to make things just a bit easier. By the end, we knew which questions were coming and we were prepared to answer them. The only place we needed help was at Mount Emei (different area than the form shown above). They mistook my visa for my latest entry stamp and they thought I’d only entered China in July (which is pretty much impossible…but, whatevs).

Sometimes they had us fill in the forms ourselves, which wasn’t easy either, because they were in Chinese. We could guess some of them based on Dave’s limited knowledge of characters (I have like 0 knowledge), but often we had to get them to read the forms to us (at least my listening comprehension is pretty good).

I should add that these forms actually do serve a rather important function. If there happens to be a breakout in a particular area, they quickly contact everyone who was in contact or in the vicinity of the sick people. Those people are then tested and kept under quarantine for 2 weeks to ensure the virus doesn’t spread. For locals, this is all tracked with their ID cards, in a big, national system. For foreigners, everything is done manually. It’s not a perfect system, but it does work. It prevents community transmission, which is the big threat in this pandemic.

I can’t lie..I would not want this job. To manually track every foreigner that comes into your city can’t be fun. The government could have easily said foreigners weren’t allowed to travel at all. This is an ok alternative, I’d say.

Part: Excessive Caution?

The only place where we really experienced any sort of difficulty was, unsurprisingly, Guizhou. This isn’t because Guizhou province is particularly bad (they have some of the best food in the world there!!). Guizhou simply sees fewer foreign tourists than other parts of China, so they aren’t quite sure what to do with us.

Guizhou is quite remote and far away from most of the biggest tourist attractions. It’s also a poor province.

When we arrived at Guiyang airport, everyone got up to get out of the plane, as usual, but before we could start moving towards the exit, the flight attendants made everyone sit back down. Then, they made all the foreigners on the plane get up, and walk out of the plane first. It kinda felt like we were being arrested or like we’d done something wrong.

We were greeted by staff in surgical gear, telling us that our Nucleic Acid Tests didn’t matter and telling us to quickly follow them…

The process itself wasn’t much different from other cities, other than a few extra forms and a bit more time watching them fumble through our passports (even though we’d shown them our stamps), but the way it was done was pretty alarming. I couldn’t help but think that the whole ordeal further perpetuated a prejudice against foreigners currently in China. Somewhere through all this COVID stuff… (some) people here began thinking that it is foreigners bringing the virus back into China. In reality, it’s Chinese nationals coming back from trips abroad who are the biggest risk. Foreigners are still barred from the country, and have been since March, so we aren’t the ones coming and going.

There were even some very racist comics released on the web about how China needs to clean up the country of ‘dirty foreigners’. These comics were met with backlash from both foreign and local netizens. The sentiment is there, but it’s not a sentiment that everyone in China shares.

A friend of mine had a similar experience to mine, also while in Guizhou province (not in Guiyang though). When he arrived by train, he and his Chinese girlfriend were taken by police car to the closest hospital for a mandatory nucleic acid test. This was in spite of their green codes, valid entry stamps and the tests they’d already done in Suzhou. When they arrived at the hospital, however, the doctors there told the police to ‘stop bringing them every foreigner that comes into town’. So obviously, not everyone in China thinks foreigners are a walking plague.

Temples were rather strict about mask wearing as well, but we noticed they would tell us to put our masks up (while we were outside), but let locals walk around without. Once more, these instances occured in remote areas.

To Summarize

Traveling in China at the moment is mostly safe, and only a minor inconvenience. If you plan to do it, I recommend that you bet prepared to be a bit more patient than usual. Most people are just trying to do their job and play their part in keeping China safe. You will meet the occasional racist, but that’s the case in all countries and all situations, so I wouldn’t worry too much.

And hey… Look at the bright side… Sometimes the special rules put into place for foreigners get you a shuttle bus to yourself and a fast track out of the airplane!

I’ve got more to write about Yunnan & Guizhou! Check back soon!

Magnificent Mount Emei

Sichuan’s geography varies depending on the area you’re in. In the eastern part of the province, you’ll find agriculture. In the west, there are beautiful mountains. For our final day in Sichuan, we headed south-west.

Mount Emei is located just west of the Leshan Buddha. You can take the high-speed train there. Book your ticket to Emei Shan, and then either hop on a bus, or hire a car to get to the next part of the mountain.

Unlike the rest of our trip so far, this activity wasn’t about learning or museums. This activity was purely scenic. Even from the parking lot, Mount Emei is stunning!

We decided to go about 1/3 of the way up the mountain, mostly because we didn’t want want to spend 5 hours in a car to get all the way to the top of this very high mountain. Maybe if we’d had more time we would have traveled to the summit, but even 1000m gave us a gorgeous view!

We chose to go as far as Wannian Temple. The peak itself is above the clouds. We both want to come back and go all the way to the summit on our next trip to Sichuan.

Once more, my leg stopped us from doing any hiking (hiking in China is just climbing stairs, which is especially hard for my leg), but the up side is that we took the cable car up and down the mountain and got quite the view!

A 10 minute ride up the mountain and we didn’t even have to share the car!

It was hot in the cable car, and I was happy I had my fan with me

At the end of the cable car, we took a little walk and enjoyed the clean air and beautiful scenery. It wasn’t long before we came across a beautiful area.

This wasn’t quite a temple. It was more like a place where people could write wishes or prayers and hang them.

There was writing on every piece of wood.

After following a lovely, green path, we found the temple we were seeking. Wannian might just be the nicest temple I’ve seen in China!

One of the many beautiful Buddha’s there

The grounds were immaculately maintained by the monks that live there full time. Everything was pristine!

Beautiful trees everywhere. The whole area is so clean!!

Everywhere you turned, there was something beautiful to see!

Eventually, we made our way back down the mountain, and on the way, the sun finally came back out again!!

After making it back down this part of the mountain, we took a shuttle bus to Baoguo temple for some more sites, and some dinner (we booked a late train back). Baoguo has a little town, as well as the temple, and there was plenty to see there.

We got there too late for the museum, but we had a half hour to see the temple before it closed. I’m really glad we did too, because this temple was also incredibly beautiful!!

And this time we had blue skies adding to the color!

We were a bit rushed but managed to get some photos

Prayer candles. One thing every religion seems to have in common, is the ceremonial value of candles.

We enjoyed hot pot for our final dinner in Sichuan, and then the following night, we were off to Kunming, Yunnan!!

The Treasure of Sichuan

Everyone knows about the Great Wall of China and most people know about the terracata warriors in Xi’an, but ancient Chinese wonders don’t stop there. If the Leshan Buddha is the cultural masterpiece of ancient Sichuan, Dujianyang is the engineering masterpiece.

It might not look like much, but let me explain!

2200 years ago, this area of Sichuan was flooding badly. Huge amounts of water were coming down the mountains, and would get trapped in a slow moving area that had a lot of silt. The area couldn’t be dammed because it was an important route for trade. So they came up with an alternative plan: they created a levee… By hand.

I forgot to take a photo, so I had to steal this one from the internet. Thanks internet!!!

It took 10s of thousands of people 4 years to construct this levee. They did it by filling bamboo weaved baskets with rocks held up by 3 giant pieces of wood. They created a diversion in the water sending some of it down a canal dug out by heating and cooling stones until they cracked (this was done before dynamite!). After the rocks cracked, workers removed them by hand… One by one.

They slowly chipped away at the rocks to allow the water to move into a new area.

This levee did 2 awesome things. #1: it stopped the flooding that the area was experiencing. #2: it turned this area of Sichuan into the largest food-producing area of land in the country. The diverted water helped create and improve farmland. A true win-win!!!

It was raining, but we were prepared with our rain jackets!

The whole area is beautiful and we were lucky enough to finally experience some clear weather later on in the day. That’s when we really got to enjoy our day.

The rain DID give the area a very misty and surreal feel… But we were happy for the sun to come out!

It turns out there are beautiful grounds surrounding the levee

There were plenty of beautiful trees to admire, as well as koi ponds and gardens

In the distance, there were pagodas, and of course, the river itself is beautiful (and VERY fast!!)

This was the first bit of nice weather we’d had on the trip so far, so we were pretty happy with it!

We eventually found our way out of the park and ended up seeing a beautiful bridge that led us to a great little market.

That huge arch is actually the entrance to the bridge!

For a small donation, we got to take photos with the Monkey King

The market was full of Chili’s, beef jerky and some well priced souvenirs. When you’re used to East Coast prices, it’s a nice surprise when things cost less than you expect!

A tour of an irrigation area may not seem like all that much fun, but given that this structure is still here and being used 2200 years later (with some very good upgrades, of course…) – it’s probably worth a visit! Dujianyang is yet another incredible example of ancient Chinese brilliance!

And even in the rain… It’s a beautiful place to be!

I have 1 more post for Sichuan, and then we move onto Yunnan!!

Lovely Leshan

Leshan was somewhere I knew we had to go when I was reading about Sichuan. I’ve seen a lot of Buddhas during our time in Asia, but I knew this one was special.

After seeing Buddha growing out of a tree in Ayutthaya, I figured there wasn’t much left to impress me.

Leshan is located about an hour outside of Chengdu via bullet train. The town itself is a lot more developed than I was expecting, and had I known, we would have booked 1 night there and saved the time going to Emei (which is just 30 minutes past Leshan). Still, it was a beautiful train ride and not long enough to be a big deal.

The bullet train route from Chengdu to Emei

Didi’s (Chinese Ubers) can’t take you all the way to the mountain, so you get dropped off at the entrance of the park. It’s about 1km from the entrance to the ticket office. You get to walk through a lovely town though, and you can stop for food or drinks along the way. It’s a really nice walk!

The town itself is beautiful and well maintained. I suppose with COVID, fewer people were traveling, so we basically had the place to ourselves

We stopped for some food in town, and got this delicious dessert that we used to get in Guizhou all the time. It had a clear jelly in it, with a brown sugar sauce of some sort, and there are peanuts and dried fruit in it too. It’s very refreshing and very tasty!!

Lots of beautiful buildings to admire on your walk to the ticket office

Because my leg still causes me quite a few problems when it comes to ramps and stairs, we decided to skip climbing up the mountain to the top of the Buddha, and instead took a boat to see it from the front. Whether you want to take a boat or enter the park to climb the mountain, you’ll need to get tickets. For the boat, it was about 80rmb ($16 Canadian).

The view from the boat was spectacular! We were blown away by the size of the Leshan Buddha carving and the level of detail in it as well. The way you come up on it by the boat is truly something to see. Even if you want to hike the mountain, I’d suggest you do the boat tour as well.

This was created 1300 years ago, and took 100 years to complete.

You can see tourists walking around the Buddha to get a sense of scale

After marveling at this incredible feat of artistry and engineering, we wanted to learn more about its history and construction, so we walked back towards to museum that can be found near the entrance to the park.

There is so much to see in this museum, including art, reconstructions, photography and even a display showing all the different ticket designs for the park over the last 50 years.

At the museum, you can learn about the construction of the Buddha, as well as the maintenance that has been done to it over the last 1300 years. There were some great visuals there to help people understand the amount of work that went into this grand carving, and I left there with a better appreciation for the Leshan Buddha. We learned there is a Buddha carving in Hangzhou as well (though not as big) so we’re planning to visit that one next.

The three men who headed this 100 year long project.

I don’t think anyone should leave Sichuan without taking a trip to this beautiful mountain town, to see its incredible giant Buddha.

And while you’re at it… Take a lovely walk through a sweet little village

I’ll be back soon with more about some incredible engineering from ancient China!!!

A Multitude of Museums

We’ve been seeing a lot of rain on our trip, so on our second day of holidays, we decided to stay indoors and visit some museums.

The Jianchuan museum cluster is where we headed. It’s a unique little area with more than a dozen museums, all put together by one guy.

The museum has photography, sculptures and even pigs on display (more on that in a bit). (don’t worry… The pig is alive….)

The museum is divided into 4 themes: WW2, The 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, Cultural History and the Great Revolution. There are 15 museums within these huge grounds, and it’s a very affordable way to spend the day. It only cost about $12 Canadian for each of us, and was well worth the price.

We started with the WW2 era exhibits, because it’s something we both always wanted to learn more about. Everyone in Canada learns about the Holocaust, Pearl Harbour and D Day, but we don’t really learn about what happened in the far East.

FYI…. It wasn’t any better in China than it was in Europe….

China’s part in WW2 actually started earlier than the rest of the war, and in fact, they don’t even call it WW2. Here, it’s called The Second Sino-Japanese War. Japan brutalized China from 1937-1945, killing millions, raping women and using biological warfare that caused disfigurement and death.

There were several wax displays depicting the war.

The museum put a lot of emphasis on the heroes that helped China in this time, including Americans, Russians and even Japanese people who fought for China’s freedom. The many sculptures in this area of the museum were impressive.

These are considered some of the greatest heroes of the war. Among them, there are women missionaries who hid women and children from the Japanese, British and Russian pilots who took part in important missions, and journalists who risked their lives to tell the truth about what was happening to people in China.

As you leave the museum, there are statues showing the Japanese soldiers leaving China after the surrender.

You have to walk between them as you leave, and it makes an impact.

We also learned about the heroic efforts of the Sichuan Earthquake cleanup crew. There were hundreds of photos showing the aftermath of the earthquake that killed nearly 90,000 people and injured many more.

The museum even has displays of cars that were wrecked by the earthquake and some of the debris left behind. One survivor is also present at the museum, and he in fact, calls the museum home. Meet Strong Pig….an earthquake survivor!!

Strong Pig survived under the rubble for 36 days, and as a result, became China famous! He is spending his golden years being guided around the park and even has his own little barn to live in.

Strong Pig… They like literal names in China

We didn’t give ourselves enough time at the museum, sadly, so near the end, Dave went to see some war exhibits (the space and airplane technology exhibit was closed, sadly), and I headed for what I thought was going to be a museum about Lotus inspired art. It was actually a museum all about Lotus (bound) feet.

In other words…. The practice of making feet more “beautiful” by mutilating them.

Foot binding was practiced in China for many years. From a very young age, girls’ feet were tightly bound in bands that slowly reshaped and broke the feet. The result was extremely painful and debilitating. The ‘upside’ was that women had ‘beautiful’ tiny feet. It was very fashionable.

There were different paterns for different needs. Some designs were said to bring good luck and fortune to the woman wearing them. Others were worn to bring more sons into the world.

The museum does a good job of showing the history of this Cultural practice in a fairly balanced way. The practice was banned in China more than 100 years ago because it disfigured women, was excruciatingly painful and often caused death (by infection). They also explained why it was done in the first place.

They have more than 500 pairs of shoes on display at the museum. You can see the difference in styles throughout the ages and even across China. Shoes from Sichuan weren’t the same as shoes from Jiangsu.

Mostly, foot binding was about status. If you could afford to have your feet bound, it meant you were wealthy enough to not have to work (these women couldn’t walk very well, after all …). There was also a sexual element to Lotus Feet (I fail to see how they look like lotuses…). Men apparently found the tiny feet beautiful. I’m just glad that the practice was outlawed.

I really liked the mural near the end showing women throughout the ages that impacted China and made it better. One of the reasons why foot binding was outlawed (aside from it being incredibly painful), was because as long as women were being disfigured in the name of fashion, they could never be an equal (or contributing) part of society. Banning the practice was good for women… And good for China.

There were too many for me to capture in one photo, but you get the idea.

If you’re thinking of visiting this museum, I strongly encourage you to do so. It’s very well maintained and has plenty for you to see. The variety of exhibits is very impressive and the number of artifacts is honestly too much to take in in just 1 trip.

There are some really great sculptures and carvings. This one depicts all the heroes from the Sichuan earthquake of 2008.

I have so much more to write about!! Check back soon!

Panda Paradise

Chengdu is home to some pretty cool stuff. The city has tons of museums, great restaurants anywhere you look, lovely and friendly locals, and of course… Pandas!!

Everywhere you go in Chengdu, you will see Panda plushies, panda posters & other panda paraphernalia (see what I did there?). There are enormous panda statues and panda souvenirs to last you a life time. The city holds its identity in two things: chili peppers and pandas. And this is all for very good reason…

Until very recently, Pandas were considered critically endangered. Chengdu is home to one of the research and breeding centers that has turned the panda’s plight around. We were lucky enough to visit, and we had a great time.

It was pretty rainy during our visit, so my photos weren’t what they could have been, but still, we made the most of it and saw nearly everything the park had to offer!

The grounds at the base are beautiful and well maintained. The enclosures are huge and each panda is given plenty of space. I felt good about visiting the center, which is not something I can say about most zoos in the country.

The base sprawls over a huge area and the scenery is beautiful!

Bamboo provides shade, if you need it. Unfortunately we were there on a rainy day.

The pandas have plenty of places to play and hide.

They have trees for climbing, caves for hiding, platforms for sun bathing and napping, and of course, plenty of bamboo to eat.

There was a lot of information on the behaviors of pandas and how the breeding and research programs are helping these gentle creatures. We learned a lot there, including one interesting fact: Pandas prefer to fall out of trees than to climb down. Climbing takes more energy, and their diet is actually quite low in nutritional value, so they need to save every calorie they can!

Bamboo, though delicious, isn’t great for sustaining a high cardio routine. Luckily, the giant Panda doesn’t really have any predators to run from.

We saw lots of Red Pandas too, and they put on quite a show for us, playing in the rain and running around like the cutest little creatures to ever walk the earth!!!

Basically anything they did thrilled everyone there!

If you’re heading to Chengdu, I think it goes without saying that you should visit at least one of the Panda centers! Bring your running shoes (the park is huge!) And your camera, and you’ll be sure to have a great day!!!

By the end of the day, my feet hurt, but my heart was happy! This panda might have felt the same!!

Our Intro to Chengdu

2020 has been a year for the books. Any other year at this time, we are home, in Canada, catching up with friends and family. This year, a trip home is impossible. With China’s boarders closed to foreigners, if we leave, we can’t get back in. We have 3 cats here and our lives are still very much in Suzhou, so sadly, we couldn’t make our yearly trip to Manitoba happen this summer.

This sweet boy and 2 others rely on us. They’re family and I wouldn’t dream of leaving them behind. For now… We’re staying in China where luckily, it’s pretty safe.

As always, we’ve tried to make the best of things. International travel isn’t in the cards this summer, but we could still travel within the country. That’s how we’ve found ourselves in a part of China that I have always wanted to see but until now, hadn’t: Sichuan province.

Sichuan is in red. I’ve also labeled the cities where I’ve lived for reference.

Sichuan has always appealed to both Dave and I. The food. The scenery. The pandas. There’s so much to see and do here! 6 days won’t come close to being enough, but it’s a start!

Pandas are the city mascot. You see them everywhere!

We arrived in Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital city, in early afternoon. We didn’t have a full day but we had some time and wanted to make the most of it. First stop, of course, was food!

Twice cooked pork: one of my favourite Chinese dishes!!!

After a delicious (and cheap) lunch, we hit up one of the most commonly visited tourist attractions in Chengdu: Kuanzhai Alley.

This little area is full of shops, Cafe’s, entertainment and, of course, every kitsch thing a tourist could want to do.

There was plenty to see down in Kuanzhai Alley. Food, of course, was the main attraction, with plenty of smoked meats and spicy treats to go around!

This made me feel like I was back in Guiyang!

Street food in Chengdu is significantly better than in Suzhou!

A giant pot of chili soup! Hot pot is a ‘must try” for Chinese cuisine, and Sichuan hot pot is among the most famous. It’ll set your mouth on fire, and cure you of any illness you might be fighting!

Of course, there were some weird things to see as well (I mean… We are still in China!!).

Rabbit head…. These were everywhere. In China, pretty much every part of the animal is eaten. It makes for some interesting displays!

In addition to food offerings, we saw some beautiful architecture as well. Between the streets themselves and the shops along them… There is plenty to appreciate!

And of course, China never fails to impress me with its beautiful carvings!!

We did a bit of exploring around our hotel as well. As you walk down any given street in Chengdu, you’ll get whiffs of Sichuan pepper corn and you’ll see locals cleaning and stemming the chilis they’ll be using for that night’s dinner. I love that there are benches every where you can stop and rest. Chengdu is quite old, and you can see a lot of tradition here. It feels “warmer” than Suzhou in a lot of ways.

So far, our stay in Chengdu has been great! Can’t wait to see what else we find in this gorgeous part of China! Check back soon!!