Recap of Trip

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Now that I am back in the states, I thought I would give you all a quick summary of the week long trip Ron and I took, followed by some pictures.

On Day 1 we flew into Xi'an, where we visited the Muslim quarter of the city, walked around on top of the city wall, and visited the terracotta warrior tombs. For dinner we had the city's famous Defachang Dumplings. This was the only place that we stayed in a 4-star hotel the whole trip 😊

Day 2 we flew into Chengdu and then took a greyhound-like bus with a tour guide to the old traditional Chinese town of Shanghli. The town was very quaint with a river surrounding the village. Here we stayed in a very traditional Chinese hotel.

Day 3 was spent mostly on the road, stopping at Luding Bridge where a famous battle occurred during the 1940s between the Kuomingdang and Red Army troops led by Chairman Mao and then Kazhe Mountain which is 4500 meters high and where we saw many Tibetan prayer flags placed on the mountain top. We spent a lot of time going through the rural countryside inhabited by Chinese Tibetan minorities and spent the evening in Xindu Qiao at a Tibetan style hotel. Unfortunately I was not able to enjoy this place much as I became ill that evening, our guide claimed it was due to the high altitude.

Day 4 was also spent on the road. Along the way we stopped at the Ta Gong Temple, a vintage Tibetan temple in the foothills of the Himalayas. We finished the day in Ri Long, a Tibetan village in the mountains with many handicrafts being sold.

Day 5 we went to the Wolong Panda protection center and watched the bears climb around and play with each other. I even got to pet one! Then we went to Du Jiang Yan which is home to the world's oldest irrigation system, 3,000 years old. This was extremely interesting, to see how one man thousands of years ago had enough foresight to see how building these various canals and dam would prevent the city from being flooded and washed out year after year.

Day 6 we left for Chengdu, where we had their famous hot pot. We spent several hours touring Chengdu's Jing Li street. Then we headed back to the airport to return to Beijing.

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Photos

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Temple in Du Jiang Yan

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Ron on top of the 100 years old Shanghli bridge

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Pandas

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Pandas

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Model of the dam used in the irrigation system of Du Jiang Yan

Comments

[Lisa D]

Thank you....
Hi Tekla. I can't believe how much I have missed reading your blogs. This one was a pleasant surprise. I'm so happy that you have shared your experiences with us all. Thank you for that. Now... I truly think you should be keeping a blog as you prepare for your wedding.......

[Ron]

PANDAS!
I would like to point out that the temple in Du Jiang Yan was built to honor the ENGINEERS of the irrigation project... Our tour guide said it wasn't so much a religious thing as a way to pay respects to those responsible for over two millennia of wealth and fertility.