Chengdu in photos

Last weekend I got out of Hechuan for the first time in over a month. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province and only about two hours by train from where I am. It is especially well-known for having the largest Giant Panda Research Base and Breeding Center in the world. Close proximity + pandas = top of my travel list.

For anyone finding themselves in Chengdu, I highly recommend the Mix Lazybones Hostel. It is one of the nicest, cleanest hostels I’ve stayed at, and I’ve stayed in hostels all over Europe. They had a comfy lounge to meet travelers, free Wifi, a bunch of group tour options, and a kitchen that served Western food. (French toast! Pizza! Milkshakes!) I was in heaven.

As is usual whenever I stay at hostels, I also met some great people. After an easy train ride, I did some quick sight-seeing on my own before coming back for a Dumpling Party hosted by my hostel. I love the backpacking community; something about traveling cheaply brings out the friendliest, most open-minded people around. I latched on to some Canadians who had come down from studying in Beijing, but also met up with Germans, Dutch, British, Irish, and of course a few other Americans. It was great to meet new friends to make traveling solo more enjoyable.

The Chongqing-Chengdu bullet train. This little boy shared an orange with me.

Wenshu monastery

the hostel's dumpling making party

The next morning a group of us went to see the pandas. This was by far the highlight of the trip.

I'll let the panda photos speak for themselves:

After the pandas, the Canadians and I went out for traditional Hot Pot. As you know, I am now a Hot Pot expert. There were no English menus and no one spoke English, so we ended up just walking around from table-to-table pointing at other peoples food to show what we wanted. The whole restaurant got a kick out of this and dinner was delicious.

Hot Pot!

On Sunday, a group of eight of us (two Canadians, two Germans, and four Americans) hired a car to drive to the LeShan Buddha. I hadn't been surrounded by so many Westerners since orientation three months ago! It was great to be able to speak at full speed again without worrying if I was using words that were too big.

The LeShan Buddha is the largest stone Buddha in the world and about a two-hour drive from Chengdu. Anyone who has driven in China knows that those two hours are a harrowing mix of swerving in and out of "lanes", narrowly missing being hit by buses, and lots and lots of honking. We luckily arrived in one piece and had a great time exploring. Although as usual a lot of people seemed more interested in us than the Buddha. When else are they going to get eight foreigners in their picture at once!

They rate their toilets in China. This one was not Three Stars, as advertised.

One of the many groups who wanted a picture with us

The Hostel Group! Thanks for a great weekend.

The LeShan trip took all day, so in preparation for an early train the next morning, that night I settled in to watch the hostel's screening of Into the Wild and enjoyed one last milkshake and a hamburger. Overall, it was a great weekend with delicious food and good company.