Welcome to Chengdu, China!

Towards the end of my in-laws visit the children had two days off of school. Since both of Danny's parents had been to China before we even moved here and then again two years ago, we attempted to find a destination that we all wanted to visit within China while the kids were off of school. We settled on Chengdu in the Sichuan province. In 2008 this area was hit by an 8.0 earthquake which caused massive damage to nearby cities and villages. The city of Chengdu only suffered minor damage because the buildings were built to withstand an earthquake. The main attraction for us to visit while we were there was the Panda Research Base, we all agreed that everyone would enjoy this!

We arrived on Thursday at lunch time and checked into the lovely Shangri La! I've been so spoiled over the past 2 1/2 years and unfortunately have gotten used to being whisked off to the business center for check in and then escorted to our rooms with no wait times! That is definitely a perk of being a foreigner in China...almost all of the 5 star hotels we stay in completely cater to us! We decided to have lunch in the hotel because it was quick, convenient, and a buffet which meant the kids would eat well! We were not disappointed, my mouth still waters just thinking about the lunch. I'm pretty sure we sat and ate for 1 hour!

We definitely needed to walk off our gigantic lunch, so we went to a walking street called Jinli. There were many, many stores selling local handicrafts lining this street, including a Starbucks, which seemed a bit out of place. Of course I wasn't complaining because I was able to pick up my mug which we try to collect from every city we visit (you can only imagine that we have quite a collection at this point!)!

The kids and I love watching the locals make things. This lady is making clay cartoon characters. It is amazing because she is so fast, yet at the same time so accurate!
I love walking through these old streets, however I'm sure I am missing the meaning of so many things because of my lack of understanding any Chinese characters!! I take lots of pictures, but have no idea what I am taking a picture of!!

The kids enjoyed watching all of the fish and the black swans swimming in the river! And of course, we had some spitters who were thrilled to watch the fish come even closer! Honestly, if I never see another person spit I would be a very happy person!!

After our afternoon of exploring the city (it is very manageable because it is about half the size of Tianjin!) we went for hot pot. Hot pot is a specialty in the Sichuan province. Danny loves it! We had to get two pots of soup - one spicy and one mild. I couldn't go near the hot one - it was soooo spicy! Danny and his dad enjoyed it, but they did sweat a bit!! I think the kids had a fun time - they all like the chicken because it was so tender!

After a very busy day, we were eager to get back to the hotel and have a sleep before we went to see the pandas!!