Back in Chengdu!
Last time I was in Chengdu, it was winter and I didn’t spend that much time exploring the city. I used it more as a base to go to Jiuzhaigou and Leshan. This time we really wanted to explore. We arrived late in the evening, so the next morning we got up to explore. Just outside our hostel we found this work of art!
We got some breakfast. We got random noodles on the street. These ended up being so spicy I couldn’t eat them. Sichuan is famous for their 麻辣 (numb spicy) flavor. I can’t stand it.
We then went looking for this book store. It was rainy and I was on the hunt for a specific book. We ended up in this high-end shopping center. There was this cool stationery shop!
There was also a nice temple. It turns out the book store was underground right underneath the temple, which is why we had a hard time finding it.
The temple ended up being really interesting. It seemed pretty active.
We eventually found the bookstore. It’s got an exposed concrete/parking garage aesthetic. It was also a huge store but I still couldn’t find the book I was looking for.
We wandering around and perused the books anyway.
That evening at dinner, we made a friend – one of the smallest kittens I’ve ever seen.
The next morning we got a taxi to the panda base to be there at 7:30 when they open. We planned to be there during feeding time, which is when the pandas are most active.
We arrived before the pandas had even been woken up. We saw the one- or two-year-olds. We stayed to watch them for about 45 minutes. I was so entertained.
We eventually moved on and saw some of the others.
They also had a panda that had been born the previous week! So tiny! Also kind of ugly.
We also saw the red pandas. They were kind of elusive and by this time there were so many people. It was starting to get unpleasant.
There were peacocks roaming around the park all day. We heard one of them make their call and it was quite alarming, because we didn’t know what it was at first.
After the panda base, we went to Wuhou Temple. It’s a really cool temple, though it’s not really in use except for holidays.
As you exit the temple, there’s a really cool pedestrian shopping street that you can explore. It’s a nice place to buy gifts.
Part of the temple ticket includes the gardens next door. They are classic examples of Chinese architecture and gardening. It’s so beautiful.
That evening, we decided to get ofo bikes and cycle around the city (at rush hour!).
We got to explore some of the neighborhoods, which was really nice.
We also found the pedestrian street, which had a load of clothes shops.
We found some pretty interesting stuff…
After exploring, we went back to have dinner near the hostel.
In the morning, we looked for breakfast and found a place on 龙王庙正街 Longwang Temple Central Street. There were really good food stalls and lots of places selling produce – look at those cherries!
We got really good baozi. I tried one that was sesame and peanut and it weirdly tasted like peanut butter and jelly. I really enjoyed it.
After that, we split off and I walked around the city center. I found an interesting display about Marx’s 200th birthday.
I also found a giant statue of Mao in front of the science and technology museum.
It was such a nice afternoon!
I then went back to the hostel to write a blog post and do some stuff on the computer. I got to play with the hostel’s cat, who was really sweet.
After a little while, it was time to go to the airport.
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| spotted on the subway |
We were flying to Shangri-la!
