Best Day Yet

Michelle and I agree that yesterday was our best overall day so far in China. I started off by waking up early and wandering around the neighborhood surrounding the hotel. This is something I particularly enjoy doing when I travel. Seeing the locals in their morning routine is priceless. Everywhere people were off to work or opening shop or reading the paper. I walked past food vendors preparing meals and kids walking to school. Further along I eventually came to the elementary school where many of the children were heading. They were cackling loudly as chidren do and gathering in groups around several carts selling every imaginable cheap plastic toy. There was even a guy selling silk worms. As you can imagine they were a big hit with the under ten crowd.

At 8:30 we left for Leshan. We were in the car for about 2 hours, but it was totally worth the drive. Funny how we didn't consider the fact that the sites we were came to see might not be right outside our hotel. Leshan is called the River Town because 3 rivers converge there. Don't ask me to name them. It is also famous because of the Giant Buddha carved a 1000 years ago into the side of the mountain facing the convergence point where many boats have sunk. A monk decided to raise money to build the Buddha to protect the fisherman who were losing their lives. The project took 90 years. The big guy is 71 meters high and about 100 people can fit in his lap.

The walk down to few the sculpture from the ground is a little treacherous. But worth it.

Once we were back in Chengdu we went for a traditional hot-pot meal. We were joined by Julie, our guide, and Mr. Chun, our driver. Sharing the meal with them made it more than just a typical meal. It was a real life experience.

After dinner we went to watch a Chinese Opera. The performance included acrobats, a hand-shadow performer, with the highlight being a face changer. If you are unfamiliar with the ancient Chinese performance art of face changing, you are in for a real treat. Go rent the movie "The King of Masks" by Chinese director Tian-Ming Wu. We found it at our local Hollywood Video and it is available from Amazon.

This morning we are off to see the Pandas. If we are lucky, we will get to hold a baby.

More later.

Andrew