Kung Fu Panda

We arrived at about 1:00pm in the sleepy little town of Chendu, home to a mere 14 million souls, and made our way to Mr. Pandas Hostel.  The first thing the girls noted as we checked in was the increased level of difficulty for their integrated shower toiled apparatus.  This time you needed to avoid twisting your ankle in the hole.

We were all tired of eating the 'just add hot water' noodle bowls from the 25 hour train and were ready for something different on the palette.  A few doors down we found a resaurant that we ate at 3 times while in Chendu.  Patti is the odd food duck and they definately remembered her and just put a tiny dish of salt on the table as soon as we ordered.  There was not a trace of English in the whole restaurant and our guide was invaluable in ensuring that Patti received the blandest food possible, with some salt.  Salt is not a table but a kitchen only item.  Once again, the girls drew attention the whole time in this city with a few photo ops to boot.  This woman spotted us from the street, stared for 10 minutes, then walked right in to see the specimens up close and personal.  Our guide said that she kept saying "sisters, sisters" to whom we presumed to be her grand daughter.  Chinas one child policy effectively destroys the opportunity for sisters and siblings altogether.  In the countryside, if the first child is a girl they are allowed to have another child.  In the cities there is widespread use by parents of in utero imaging equipment to identify and terminate their female children.

After lunch we, of course, had to have a massage.  This time it was only $8 an hour.  Last time it was just the feet, this time  it was the whole body.  I have never had a whole body massage before, and this was a therapeutic (painful, but more beneficial) massage.  He started at the head and worked his way to the toes hitting strange (not private) points along the way.  Ever had an ear massage?  I just did.  He nearly gave me an eyeball massage.  In fact he was so close to touching my eyes that my OCD kicked in and I was starting to gross out about all the other bodies those fingers had touched before their last washing and maybe the last potty break.  The whole trip we have been telling the kids to keep their fingers away from their faces.  Riley's masseuse was blind (no kidding) but gentle.

The next day it was off to see the Pandas.  We all got a big kick out of how playful and clumsy the baby pandas were.  They would just tumble around on their backs and heads, playing king of the platform until one or both would fall off.  The giant pandas were much more subdued and barely moved at all.  Totally chill.  There was the opportunity to hold a baby panda, but that cost about US$330, we will do that one next time ;-).  The red panda was also part of the reserve but this was a creature that looked more like a raccoon then a bear.  The red panda experience was much more up intimate.  Rather then being surrounded by a deep ditch there was a low fence which seemed a bit inadequate given the posted signs on their potential ferocity.  Further down the path we noticed intentional holes in the fence where the pandas would pass over the path to the other side.  Never would that happen in the States.  Tara took some great pics as gaining her observation point had the advantage of playing the "hey, let this little kid see the pandas" card. 

Later that day we walked through a four century old Buddhist monastery that is still in operation today.  The multi courtyard layout is very peaceful and allows you to enter into successivly deeper realms.  These monasteries house various Buddhas that one prays to in hopes of receiving the blessing that it bestows.  I don't know how accurate the analogy is, but that aspect reminds me of the practice in Catholocism of praying to the saints to receive the various blessings that they are said to impart.  Why is it that we try to obscure God?  There is one God and provider of all things who bestows His blessings on all who would ask.  The Bible says that we often ask for things that we may spend them selfishly on ourselves and that we ask it of gods made by men that are not Gods at all.

China is undergoing a massive period of building construction and this is evidenced by simply looking around.  There is concern that this is a commercial construction boom that has financing characteristics that might have some comparison with the residential construction boom in the U.S. of a few years back.  I think this is an image that tells a story.

This lady cooked most our meals in Chendu and that behind and around her is her kitchen.  Not the cleanest thing, but can beggars be choosers?  I am wondering no longer why my nose runs whenever I eat, it's the spice.  I am not really a spice guy back home, but that may be changing.

But...if there was anything gross about that kitchen, Riley topped it by eating an Oreo that she dropped on the floor in the Chendu North Rail Station.  The Oreo shown is only a dramatization.

We said xi jian to Sally, our guide for this leg of the trip.

Images in 2013 Chengdu.