Pandas!

From the moment that we began to plan this trip we knew that Pandas would be involved. How could you possibly go to Chengdu and not see pandas? And why not take it a step further? Why not hold the pandas????? So on the morning of January 27th we left our hostel for the Panda Research and Breeding Center.

That's right you can hold a panda. The cost, 1000 RMB, steep I know but I saved from the moment I learned about it. You can imagine my heart break when upon arriving I learned that the price had risen to 2200 RMB. I didn't save that much...

A Panda Sculture to Welcome You to the Center

Not being able to hold the panda was a bit disappointing but how disappointed can you be when you get to see these cute pandas???

In my opinion pandas are the cutest animals on the planet. I'm so glad I had this opportunity to see them first hand!

Chengdu: A City of Spice

Traveling to Chengdu took us back through Hefei. Although China is filled with cheap youth Hostels Hefei, the capital of Anhui province doesn't have a single one. I suppose we could have looked for something cheap but most websites are in Chinese and don't offer an English option. Katie and I took this as an opportunity to splurge!

We shared a room at the Holiday Inn Express, it was almost like being in America.

As Katie and I enjoyed our time relaxing in our expensive hotel room (there were five channels in English!), I happened to mention that our flight to Chengdu would be my 38th flight. She looked at me like I was crazy. She proceeded to explain to me that no sane person counts their flights. I maintain this is normal. I mean, can anyone answer they question, why not count your flights?

Following my 38th flight we were in Chengdu!

Chengdu felt like spring, we got out of the airplane and for the first time in a long time had to take off a layer. Chengdu was were Katie and I were to reunite with our friends Lex and Katelyn, who we would be traveling with for the next four weeks.

Growing up I had never been to an airport as I had never flown. Sometimes my Dad would take business trips but he always drove himself and left the car in long-term parking. So from childhood I have romanticized airports, in my mind they have a mythical quality. Waiting for Lex and Katelyn after our flight landed I felt like I was in a movie, anxiously anticipating our friends before going out on an epic adventure.

Like most places on our trip we were in Chengdu for only a couple days, giving us little time to explore the great city.

The first thing that stuck me upon getting to Chengdu was the temperature (in the 50s Fahrenheit) and the different types of food. For instance there was numerous types of exotic fruit being sold on the street; pineapple, durian, and things I don't know the English names to. Then in restaurants there was spicy food spicier then I had ever tasted.

Looking back, Chengdu was probably our most "active" city during our trip, most likely because it was our first and we were so excited. For this reason I have trouble saying in good conscious what my favorite city was, how do you compare a city where you had food poisoning (I'll get to that later) to a city where you reunited with your friends? Ahh, but I digress. 

Largest Mao Zedong statue in the world.

 A common theme to our trip was seeing many of "the world's largest" this was our first one and we didn't even know it was the world's largest until after we found it!

Here my friend Lex is buying a ticket to Wenshu Temple.

Outside Wenshu Temple I tried my hand at darts, look what I won!

When planning for this trip one of the things I was most excited about was getting to see some of the ethnic minorities that live in China. As my Chinese "homebase" is the north and dominated by Han Chinese I saw this trip as an amazing opportunity for learning. Our days in Chengdu was my first taste of this learning.

Tongling: Visiting a Student's Hometown. Includes Baozi

Following our trip to Huangshan Katie and I went home with John to Tongling.

According to John, Tongling is China's smallest city with a population just over 500,000.

The weather wasn't on our side in Tongling and with relatively few things to do outside shopping we spent our time at the hotel and at John's grandparent's home.

Some of the best food I've eaten in China was at John's grandparents place. His family despite speaking no English and Katie and I speaking very little Chinese, treated us like honored guests. After finding out that my favorite Chinese food was baozi they made us a baozi feast!

Baozi is a steamed bun with a filling inside. John's Grandparents made us pork and vegetable filled steamed buns! I have eaten baozi in every city I've been to (in China) but no baozi compares to this baozi.

The Chefs!

Beyond the great food, visiting John's grandparents gave me a first hand view of how families live in China. When I told them that my family gets together (everyone at the same time) maybe twice a year (Thanksgiving and Christmas party) they were horrified. The family gatherings that I love and long for happen many times a week here. Families live closer, and even those who live further away seem to put a greater emphasis on the family unit. Seeing the family interact reminded me how much I love and miss my family and wish I would have been around for our holiday celebrations.

Huangshan: Mountain Climbing in January

The first official stop on our loop through Southern China was magnificent Mount Huangshan in Anhui province.

Coming from the smog infested North, Huangshan was a welcomed difference, in addition to being 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer, I saw blue sky for the first time in a month.

We had six hours to spend on the mountain so we took a cable car before climbing to the peak.

The view from our climb got better and better!

Our climb even brought us close to some wild monkeys!

We were so high up the we ended in the clouds!

Huangshan was beautiful but I recommend spending more time there and definitely go when its warmer!