We got back this morning from our holiday to Chengdu. Some of you may remember Chengdu from the big earthquake that made the news several years ago. It's a lovely city with a small town feel and the people were quite friendly. We saw a lot of the local sights like temples, the tibetan district, parks, etc but the two main highlights were the pandas and Emei shan.
The panda breeding centre is on the outskirts of the city in a lovely scenic area. The place is full of flower gardens and pretty walking paths as well as adorable pandas! I was worried that the living conditions for the pandas might be inhumane (China is not big on animal rights) but it seemed really great. They had plenty of outdoor space, with lots of bamboo and it was very clean. The pandas seemed really happy and healthy and we got to see babies, teenagers, and adults. Seeing them on a television screen really doesn't do these sweet animals justice. They really were enchanting, even to the more stoic members of our group. We spent about 3 hours there but I could have stayed all day.
Emei shan is the name of a mountain we went to see that was about a 3 hour bus ride from the city. It was absolutely gorgeous scenery and the air was so fresh and clean. Apparently this area is where a lot of scenes from the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon were filmed. There is also a famous kung fu style that originated here and is still practiced today. The Fuhu Temple was incredible in itself and the surrounding beauty just added to it's magnificence, I really hope to take my parents there when they come to visit. Unfortunately we only had a day and a half here and so we saw less than 10% of the mountain, I'd love to go back and stay for 3 or 4 days to have the chance to see everything.
Overall the trip was great and we all had a really fun time. It does feel good to be back though and I'm really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight, sleeping on the train sucks!
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